Egypt says Ethiopia's power-generating dam lacks a legally binding agreement
Ethiopia's prime minister said Thursday that the country's power-generating dam, known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, on the Nile is now complete and that the government is 'preparing for its official inauguration' in September.
Egypt has long opposed the construction of the dam because it would reduce the country's share of Nile River waters, which it almost entirely relies on for agriculture and to serve its more than 100 million people.
The more than $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile near the Sudan border began producing power in 2022.
It is expected to eventually produce more than 6,000 MW of electricity — double Ethiopia's current output.
Ethiopia and Egypt have spent years negotiating an agreement over the dam, which Ethiopia began building in 2011.
Both countries reached no deal despite negotiations spanning 13 years, and it remains unclear how much water Ethiopia will release downstream in the event of a drought.
Egyptian officials, in a statement, called the completion of the dam 'unlawful' and said that it violates international law, reflecting 'an Ethiopian approach driven by an ideology that seeks to impose water hegemony' instead of equal partnership.
'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,' Egypt's Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said in a statement on Friday.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his address to lawmakers on Thursday, said that his country 'remains committed to ensuring that our growth does not come at the expense of our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters.'
'We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water,' he said.
'Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all.'
However, the Egyptian Water Ministry said on Friday that Ethiopian statements calling for continued negotiations 'are merely superficial attempts to improve its image on the international stage.'
'Ethiopia's positions, marked by evasion and retreat while pursuing unilateralism, are in clear contradiction with its declared willingness to negotiate,' the statement read.
However, Egypt is addressing its water needs by expanding agricultural wastewater treatment and improving irrigation systems, according to the ministry, while also bolstering cooperation with Nile Basin countries through backing development and water-related projects.
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