Egyptian Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam has made recent remarks that represent a deliberate attempt to dismantle Ethiopia's narrative around the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and its ambitions on the Blue Nile. Sewilam, a water-resources scholar and civil engineer, challenged Ethiopia's claims that its dams serve development and that upstream states exercise sovereign authority over water within their territories.
Sewilam's method was to expose what Cairo considers an attempt to control a shared international river and turn that control into political leverage. He compared the claim of absolute sovereignty over transboundary water to "a new religion" created to justify Ethiopia's position. Sewilam also used an analogy, stating that building a dam on an international river is not like laying a carpet in one's home.
The immediate context of Sewilam's remarks was an interview with Ethiopian Water and Energy Minister Habtamu Itefa, who said Ethiopians had taken "the key to the Abay" - Ethiopia's name for the Blue Nile - and that the river could no longer "rage and run as it wishes." Sewilam described this as the first public acknowledgement by an Ethiopian minister that the country's dam-building programme also aimed to regulate water flowing towards Sudan and Egypt.
Sewilam challenged the distinction Addis Ababa has sought to maintain between generating electricity and controlling water. He questioned who benefits from a project whose risks extend beyond its borders and posed a technical question: if electricity generation were the sole objective, why was a reservoir capable of holding approximately 74 billion cubic metres of water necessary?
Sewilam also confronted the proposition that water should be treated as a sovereign national asset that an upstream state may control or sell. He said Ethiopia had sought to advance this concept through language connected to the Africa Water Vision 2063, but other African countries rejected the idea because it was not an internationally accepted principle.
Egyptian statements on the GERD have traditionally relied on the measured language of diplomacy and international law. However, Sewilam's remarks marked a rhetorical shift, as he challenged the legitimacy of the narrative used to defend Ethiopia's actions. The response on Egyptian social media reflected both approval and impatience, with some users praising Sewilam's confidence and others asking for action to follow his words.
Key points
- Egypt's Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam has challenged Ethiopia's narrative on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
- Sewilam questioned Ethiopia's sovereignty claims and technical assumptions behind the dam.
- The remarks marked a rhetorical shift in Egyptian statements on the GERD, as Cairo is no longer merely defending itself but placing Ethiopia's narrative on trial.
