Egypt disputes Ethiopia’s intentions with mega dam construction
Egypt has disputed the sincerity of Ethiopia’s intentions with its newly completed mega dam on the Blue Nile, as reported by Ashard Al-Awsat on July 4th. The dam’s construction has raised concerns regarding Egypt and Sudan’s water security.
Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, announced on July 3rd the completion of the country’s vast power-generating dam, dubbed the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The government is “preparing for its official inauguration” in September 2025. The $4 billion dam located near the Sudanese border commenced power production in 2022 and is expected to eventually double its current output to 6,000 megawatts.
The construction of the dam has caused tension between Ethiopia and Egypt, with Cairo’s government warning that its completion would significantly reduce its share of Nile River waters.
In an address to lawmakers on July 3rd, Abiy Ahmed appeared to try and alleviate these concerns by stating that Ethiopia “remains committed to ensuring that our growth does not come at the expense of our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters.”
Egypt is forced to manage a domestic water supply deficit of 30 billion cubic metres annually. While the country of 114 million people consumes over 85 billion cubic metres annually, its share of Nile water is only 55.5 billion cubic metres. Thus the prospect of the dam further diminishing Egypt’s supply could seriously harm its agricultural sector.
A binding agreement regarding Nile water distribution has not been reached despite 13 years of negotiations between Egypt and Ethiopia – which began when construction started in 2011.
The completion of the dam was labelled as “unlawful” in a statement by Egyptian officials, claiming that it violates international law and illustrates “an Ethiopian approach driven by an ideology that seeks to impose water hegemony” rather than equality.
In a statement released on July 4th, Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said that “Egypt firmly rejects Ethiopia’s continued policy of imposing a fait accompli through unilateral actions concerning the Nile River, which is an international shared watercourse.”
“We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water,” he said. “Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all.”
The Egyptian water ministry also disputed the sincerity of Ethiopia’s calls for continued water supply talks, labelling them as “merely superficial attempts to improve its image on the international stage.”
The statement declared that “Ethiopia’s positions, marked by evasion and retreat while pursuing unilateralism, are in clear contradiction with its declared willingness to negotiate.”
Egypt is meanwhile managing its water needs by enhancing its irrigation systems and expanding agricultural wastewater treatment. It is also consolidating cooperation with other Nile Basin countries by backing development and water-related projects.
Asharq Al-Awsat, Maghrebi.org
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