Egypt has sharply criticized Ethiopia for incorporating a tour of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) into the annual Nile Day celebrations, accusing Addis Ababa of acting unilaterally and sidelining the concerns of downstream countries.
During the 19th Nile Day event held on 22 February in Addis Ababa at the Science Museum, high-ranking officials, diplomats, and water experts from various Nile Basin states gathered to discuss cooperative strategies for managing the Nile’s vital water resources. However, the situation escalated when ministers and journalists from riparian nations—including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, South Sudan, and Ethiopia—participated in an official tour of GERD. Ethiopian Water and Energy Minister Habtamu Itefa, together with GERD Project Manager Kifle Horo, briefed the visiting delegates on the dam’s progress and its operational plans.
Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hani Sewilam, condemned the move, arguing that the inclusion of the GERD tour undermines collective decision-making in the Nile Basin and sets a dangerous precedent of unilateral development. “Egypt is one of the most water-scarce countries, and our survival depends on the Nile. We cannot allow actions that disrupt regional cooperation and jeopardize our fundamental right to life and livelihood,” Sewilam stated at a ministerial meeting preceding the celebrations.
Sewilam recalled that Egypt had withdrawn from technical activities within the Nile Basin Initiative in 2010 due to deviations from agreed cooperative principles. He further warned that unilateral projects, especially those lacking proper consultation, environmental impact assessments, or legally binding frameworks, violate international law and threaten regional stability.
Egypt maintains that the GERD project, which Ethiopia began constructing in 2011 and has since partially filled and commissioned, should be addressed within a trilateral framework involving Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. The Egyptian government contends that Ethiopia’s recent actions—using Nile Day as a platform to promote GERD—are an attempt to forge a regional consensus in favor of the dam without adequately considering the rights of downstream states.
In response to rising tensions, Egypt has expressed support for a consultative process initiated by the Nile Council of Ministers. This process involves seven Nile Basin countries—Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—with the goal of reaching a consensus-based approach to managing the Nile’s resources.
Legal experts have noted that unlike established transboundary water agreements such as the Mekong River and Uruguay River frameworks, the current arrangements for the Nile—exemplified by the 2010 Entebbe Agreement—lack robust mechanisms for joint decision-making. Professor Ayman Salama, a specialist in public international law, warned that dismissing historical rights, such as those outlined in the 1929 treaty, risks further destabilizing the basin.
Adding another perspective, Professor of Dam Engineering Mohamed Hafez argued that the participation of several Nile Basin water ministers in the GERD tour could be seen as implicit approval of Ethiopia’s unilateral actions. He recalled that Egyptian officials had previously visited the dam, suggesting that the issue is more complex than it appears.
As the dispute over GERD continues to simmer, Egypt calls for renewed dialogue and adherence to the principles of consensus and shared management, emphasizing that the Nile is not only a crucial water resource but also a lifeline for the entire region.