Cairo and Addis Ababa face renewed tensions as Egypt vows to block Ethiopia’s proposed construction of three new Nile dams.
Egyptian Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam declared Tuesday that Cairo will not permit further Ethiopian dam projects on the shared river.
His forceful warning follows recent reports alleging that Ethiopia plans to construct three additional structures alongside the massive Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
The multi-billion-dollar hydroelectric megaproject has fueled fierce diplomatic disputes among regional neighbors since construction first began in 2011.
Cairo and Khartoum insist on a legally binding trilateral agreement before Ethiopia fully operates the colossal upstream Nile power installation.
Sewilam emphasized that the total absence of operational data sharing places downstream Sudan in an extremely difficult management position.
Sudanese authorities cannot effectively regulate their own domestic dams without precise advance information regarding Ethiopia’s seasonal water releases.
Responsibility for any subsequent water management disruptions rests entirely with Addis Ababa for refusing data coordination, the minister asserted.
Ethiopia maintains that formal trilateral binding agreements are entirely unnecessary and insists the current dam causes downstream nation states no harm.
Tensions remain high across the Nile basin as prolonged diplomatic talks between the involved African nations collapsed again in 2024.
