Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has accused Ethiopia of harming Egypt and Sudan through its “unregulated management” of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), calling for international and African action to reach a binding legal agreement on the dam’s filling and operation.
In a recorded speech at the opening session of the Cairo Water Week, Sisi stressed that the Nile River is a “shared heritage” among its riparian states, not a resource to be monopolized.
He said irregular water releases from the dam — carried out without prior notification — had caused “damage to the downstream countries,” including the flooding of lands and homes in Egypt and Sudan.
Sisi warned that “Egypt will not stand idly by and will take all necessary measures to protect its interests and water security,” emphasizing that Egypt’s reliance on diplomacy and international institutions “is not a sign of weakness, but of the strength of our position.”
The statement comes amid the continued deadlock in negotiations between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia over the GERD, with Cairo and Khartoum demanding a legally binding trilateral agreement before further filling and operation of the dam.
