What changed
Ethiopia’s water and energy minister, Habtamu Itefa, said on November 5 that Ethiopia will continue developing its rivers and building dams without seeking permission from Egypt or any other country.
He pointed to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and other projects as proof of that policy. Ethiopia plans to present technical arguments for its approach at the forthcoming UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi.
Why it matters
The statement hardens Ethiopia’s public position in its long-running dispute with Egypt over the Nile. Addis Ababa says its water projects serve more than 130 million people through irrigation, hydropower, fisheries and other development needs. It also rejects colonial-era Nile agreements as binding on Ethiopia.
Itefa said Ethiopia will not stop water flowing downstream and described the river as shared by all. That is the reassurance at the center of Ethiopia’s argument: development upstream, it says, need not mean cutting off Egypt or excluding Sudan.
The immediate question is whether this declaration changes negotiations, dam operations or legal positions. The minister’s planned appearance in Abu Dhabi will show how Ethiopia turns its sovereignty claim into a technical case for regional cooperation.
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