Salini: an Ethio-Italian story

Abstract

The history of dam building and hydropower development in Ethiopia is deeply interwoven with the story of a particular construction company: Salini Costruttori. Started as an Italian family- owned company, Salini has been building dams and other infrastructure in Ethiopia since the 1960s, navigating different political regimes—Imperial Ethiopia, the Derg and the Federal Republic first under Meles Zenawi and later Hailemariam Dessalegn and Abiy Ahmed—and expanding its business to become a key partner of the Ethiopian Government in its most ambitious project so far: the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Ethiopia has been one of the strategic bases from which Salini surged to become a global top player in the infrastructure sector, particularly after the 2014 merger with another Italian firm, Impregilo, to form Salini Impregilo, rebranded WeBuild in 2020