With ceremony and regional symbolism, Ethiopia inaugurated the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile. The move comes despite years of collapsed negotiations and the absence of a binding agreement with Egypt and Sudan on how the massive hydropower project should be filled and run.
The inauguration drew leaders from Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia, and Djibouti, alongside AU and UN officials. Kenya and South Sudan pledged to purchase power from the dam, underscoring its regional pull.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sought a conciliatory tone. The GERD's purpose is “absolutely not to harm its brothers,” he said. “Addis Ababa will neither squander its neighbor’s rights nor seek to harm others.” Ahmed has repeatedly tried to calm downstream fears over water security even as filling continued.
“The hunger of Egypt, Sudan, or any of our brothers is our hunger too,” he said. “Our goal is to dine together and share; not to benefit ourselves while wronging others,” Ahmed added.
Cairo rides the diplomatic stream
Egypt responded swiftly and forcefully. Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council rejecting Ethiopia’s unilateral actions and warning the GERD’s completion threatens the “existential interests” of downstream nations.
“Egypt has exercised maximum restraint,” the letter read, emphasizing that the country has continued to pursue a diplomatic route to resolution “not out of an inability to defend its vital interests, but out of a firm conviction in the importance of promoting cooperation and achieving shared benefits among Nile Basin states in accordance with international law,” Abdelatty asserted.
The letter accused Ethiopia of negotiating in bad faith, stalling talks to impose a political reality and mobilize domestic opinion against an imagined external threat. It reiterated that the Nile is a shared river, not an arena for unilateral sovereignty.
Cairo warned that any belief it would tolerate erosion of its water rights is “a dangerous illusion.” The letter concluded that Egypt will defend its interests through all available means under international law and the UN Charter.
In December 2023, Egypt declared negotiations over and vowed to closely monitor the dam’s filling and operation. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi later described protecting Nile water supply as “an existential imperative” for a nation that draws more than 98% of its freshwater from the river.
In March 2024, Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam admitted the dam had affected Egypt but said the government absorbed the impact “at a cost.” He cited the 2015 Declaration of Principles, which obliges Ethiopia to compensate downstream countries if harm occurs. “Egypt will demand it one day,” he said.
A senior Irrigation Ministry official told Al Manassa that while the dam structure is complete, only eight of its 13 turbines are operational. “Water is being released through turbines, spillways, and outlets to Sudan and eventually Egypt,” he added.
He stressed the urgency of a binding legal agreement—especially on drought scenarios lasting seven to ten years. So far, high rainfall and careful management of the Aswan High Dam have softened impacts, but a prolonged drought could leave both dams dangerously depleted.
Ambassador Mohamed Hegazy, a former assistant foreign minister, described the inauguration without coordination as “an aggressive and irresponsible act.”
“This is a reckless blow to regional security,” Hegazy told Al Manassa, warning Ethiopia’s unilateral approach endangers the future of more than 150 million Egyptians and Sudanese who depend on the Nile.
