A member of the Republican March Band poses for a photo at the ceremony for the first energy production at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, on 20th February 2022 [Getty]
Egypt has strongly criticised Ethiopia’s decision to include a visit to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) as part of this year’s Nile Day celebrations, accusing Addis Ababa of attempting to legitimise the controversial project without addressing the concerns of downstream nations.
The dam’s construction and its impact on Egypt’s share of the Nile river which begins in Ethiopia, has been the source of a decade-long crisis between the two countries that remains unresolved.
The 19th Nile Day celebrations, jointly organised by the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and Ethiopia’s Ministry of Water and Energy (MoWE), were held on 22 February at the Science Museum in Addis Ababa. High-ranking government officials, diplomats, and water resource experts from Nile Basin states participated in discussions on mutual development opportunities and mechanisms to optimise the use of the Nile’s water resources.
However, tensions escalated after ministers and journalists from across the Nile Basin visited GERD as part of the official Nile Day programme. Participants included the Ministers of Water from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, South Sudan, and Ethiopia, alongside journalists from riparian countries. Ethiopian Water and Energy Minister Habtamu Itefa and GERD Project Manager Kifle Horo briefed the delegates on the dam’s construction progress and operational status.
Egypt condemned the move, with Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sewilam warning that such actions reinforce unilateralism and undermine cooperative frameworks intended to manage the Nile’s resources collectively.
Speaking at the event, Sewilam reiterated Egypt’s long-standing concerns about the erosion of regional consensus, stressing that Nile Day should serve as a platform for genuine cooperation rather than a political tool.
He noted that Egypt had been compelled to suspend its participation in the NBI’s technical activities in 2010 following “deviations from the cooperative principles” that had originally guided the initiative. Cairo has long opposed the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA), arguing that it enables upstream countries to implement major projects—such as GERD—without consulting downstream states.
“Egypt is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world, and our reliance on the Nile is absolute. We cannot afford to ignore actions that disrupt regional cooperation and threaten our fundamental right to life and livelihood,” said Sewilam.
He warned that unilateral projects undertaken without proper consultation, environmental impact assessments, or legally binding agreements violate international law and risk destabilising the region.
“Egypt respects the right of all riparian states to pursue development and actively supports their growth and progress, but in return, we seek recognition and protection of our fundamental right to life and livelihood,” he said.
Egyptian officials fear that Ethiopia’s strategy—demonstrated through the inclusion of GERD in Nile Day celebrations—is an attempt to create a regional consensus in favour of the dam without addressing legitimate concerns over its impact.
Nonetheless, Sewilam reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to fostering dialogue and restoring unity within the Nile Basin. He expressed support for the recent decision by the Nile Council of Ministers (Nile-COM) to launch a consultation process involving three CFA signatories—Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan—alongside four non-signatory states: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Kenya, and Sudan.
From a legal standpoint, Professor of Public International Law Ayman Salama noted that international agreements governing transboundary rivers typically include mechanisms for joint coordination and management. He cited the 1995 Mekong River Agreement—covering Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and China—the 1959 Nile Waters Agreement between Egypt and Sudan, and the 1973 Uruguay River Agreement as examples of frameworks promoting shared decision-making.
By contrast, he argued, the 2010 Entebbe Agreement lacks an effective institutional mechanism for coordinated management, making it susceptible to unilateral interpretations that could harm the interests of downstream states.
He noted that under the agreement, upstream countries are allowed to undertake irrigation and hydropower projects without securing prior approval from Egypt, marking a fundamental shift in the governance of Nile waters.
The core dispute, he explained, stems from the agreement’s annulment of historical rights established under the 1929 treaty between Egypt and Britain, which at the time represented its African colonies. That treaty had granted Egypt the authority to review and approve any projects affecting the Nile’s flow beyond its borders.
Salama warned that removing this provision without offering a mutually acceptable alternative could escalate tensions within the Nile Basin, making it increasingly difficult to secure sustainable cooperative solutions in the future.
Experts have meanwhile warned that the participation of several Nile Basin ministers in the GERD visit could be interpreted as tacit approval of the project, despite Egypt’s objections.
Professor of Dam Engineering Mohamed Hafez told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the visit of water ministers to GERD suggests “implicit approval” of Ethiopia’s unilateral actions, highlighting the lack of formal objections from participating states regarding the dam’s technical or economic impact.
But he also pointed out that Egypt itself had previously sent officials to inspect the Ethiopian dam, recalling that former Egyptian Water Resources Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty visited GERD with a delegation of 30 to 40 Egyptian journalists, effectively acknowledging the project’s existence and construction.
“We cannot expect African water ministers to be more protective of Egyptian interests than a high-ranking Egyptian official who visited the dam at an early stage,” Hafez remarked.
