Addis Abeba — Egypt steps up its lobbying efforts over the Nile River by dispatching top officials to Uganda, as Ethiopia maintained its longstanding position that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) serves regional development and poses no harm to downstream countries and is readying to inaugurate the dam come September.
The renewed Egyptian diplomatic push comes despite Ethiopia’s repeated assurances and the formal entry into force of the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA), a landmark legal instrument governing equitable use of the Nile since October 2024.
On Monday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in Entebbe to voice what Cairo describes as “existential concerns” about water security. FM Abdelatty, accompanied by Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sewilam, repeated what he called “unilateral actions” in the eastern Nile Basin and threatened to pursue “all necessary measures under international law” to protect Egypt’s water share, according to Egyptian media. The Egyptian delegation also sought to deepen bilateral economic ties and delivered a development grant to a Ugandan youth-focused NGO.
Egypt’s latest lobbying round in Uganda follows series of high-level lobby in Washington last week even after its refusal to sign the CFA, the only comprehensive legal framework negotiated by Nile riparian states to govern shared water use. The CFA has been ratified or acceded to by six countries, including Ethiopia, Uganda, and South Sudan, and is deposited with the African Union. Egypt and Sudan remain outside the accord.
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Water and Energy Minister Habtamu Itefa (PhD) underscored this contrast in February 2025, revealing that Egypt had attempted to block Nile Basin water ministers from visiting the GERD during an extraordinary session of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) in Addis Abeba. Egypt’s Water Minister Hani Sewilam even sent a formal letter urging his counterparts not to accept Ethiopia’s invitation, claiming the visit would politicize the annual Nile Day program. “Nonetheless, the ministers visited the dam. This showed who stands for cooperation and who stands against progress,” Habtamu said, dismissing Egypt’s opposition as “false propaganda.”
On July 3, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced that the GERD’s official inauguration would be held in September 2025 and extended formal invitations to Egypt, Sudan, and all Nile Basin countries. Addressing parliament, the Prime Minister emphasized that the GERD has not harmed downstream water flows and repeated Ethiopia’s commitment to mutual benefit. “The Aswan Dam has not lost a single liter of water,” Abiy said. “We have no desire to see Egypt or Sudan harmed.”
Ethiopia also continues to position the GERD as a symbol of African-led development and basin-wide solidarity and maintains that Egypt’s rejection of the CFA and its ongoing campaign against the GERD risk undermining the cooperative spirit that many other Nile countries have embraced. With the CFA now in force and the GERD nearing full operation, water experts assert that it is time to turn the page on zero-sum narratives and basin states, including Egypt, to align with the legal and political framework built over decades through the Nile Basin Initiative, and to recognize the dam not as a threat, but as an opportunity for shared prosperity.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
