GERD: Ethiopia Reaffirms Sovereignty Over the Blue Nile Amid Egypt's 'Campaigns'

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), built on the Abay (Blue Nile), has fueled a tripartite dispute between Addis Ababa, Cairo and Khartoum over Nile water sharing since construction began in 2011. The issue regularly resurfaces in regional diplomatic news, as Egypt views the structure as an existential threat to its water supply. According to Eustaz Jamal Bashir, quoted by the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA), 'Egypt's campaigns against the GERD cannot alter Ethiopia's sovereign right to utilize its natural resources, particularly the Abay River.' The source dispatch, very brief, does not specify Bashir's exact function nor the precise context of his statement. The stakes go beyond diplomacy alone: for Ethiopia, the GERD represents a structuring hydroelectric and energy sovereignty project; for Egypt, it touches the water security of millions of inhabitants dependent on the Nile. Analytically, this statement fits into a consistent Ethiopian rhetoric over the past fifteen years, asserting a right to development against a hydraulic order historically favorable to Cairo. Absent additional factual elements in the source, the real scope of this statement - a mere internal communication or a diplomatic signal aimed at Egypt - remains an open question.