Arabic version: مصر والسودان تجددان الدعوة إلى إطار ملزم بشأن سد النهضة

According to Allafrica, Egypt and Sudan renewed their opposition to Ethiopia’s independent management of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, calling for a binding legal framework more than a year after Ethiopia inaugurated the project.

In a joint statement issued on November 2 after the third round of their “2+2” consultations in Cairo, the two countries said their water security was “indivisible.” They warned that operation of the dam without a binding agreement threatens downstream water security and urged Ethiopia to return to negotiations based on international law.

Cairo and Khartoum cited principles including avoiding significant harm, prior notification, consultation and consensus. They also said the dispute should remain limited to Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, rejecting efforts to involve other Nile Basin countries.

The countries again invoked the 1959 Nile Waters Agreement, which allocated 55.5 billion cubic meters annually to Egypt and 18.5 billion cubic meters to Sudan. Ethiopia was not a party to that accord and has rejected it as a basis for limiting its rights, arguing that arrangements excluding upstream countries cannot determine use of shared water resources.

Ethiopia inaugurated the self-financed GERD in September 2025 after 14 years of construction. The project has an installed generation capacity of about 5,150 megawatts and a reservoir capacity of about 74 billion cubic meters. Ethiopia says the dam is primarily intended for electricity generation and supports equitable and reasonable use of transboundary waters.