Egypt and Sudan Reject Unilateral Management of Ethiopian Nile Dam

Egypt and Sudan have restated their opposition to unilateral action on the Nile. On Monday 2 November, after the third round of their "2+2" consultation mechanism in Cairo, the two countries warned that Ethiopia's management of its Blue Nile dam without a binding legal framework poses a continuing threat to the water security of both downstream states, Daily News Egypt reported.

The mechanism brings together the foreign and irrigation ministers of each country. Egypt was represented by Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sewilam, and Sudan by Foreign Minister Mohi El-Din Salem and Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Ismat Qurashi. In a joint statement they described their water security as indivisible and reaffirmed their full water rights and existing uses under the 1959 Nile Waters Agreement.

The two governments called on Ethiopia to abandon what they describe as unilateral policies and to resume cooperation in line with international law, citing the principles of avoiding significant harm, prior notification, consultation and consensus. They stressed that the dam dispute concerns only the three Eastern Nile Basin countries, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, and rejected attempts to involve other Nile Basin states.

The statement also looked to the wider basin. Egypt and Sudan reaffirmed the role of the Permanent Joint Technical Commission for Nile Waters in developing common positions and agreed to give it the technical and logistical support it needs. They said they support development projects in the southern Nile Basin, provided those meet technical standards and are subject to prior notification, consultation and agreement under international law. They also called for preserving the Nile Basin Initiative as an inclusive platform and supported continued consultations on the Cooperative Framework Agreement, with the aim of restoring the participation of all basin countries.

Water infrastructure featured in the Sudan section of the statement. Both sides condemned what they called attacks by rebel militias on electricity and water infrastructure in Sudan, carried out with drones launched from a neighbouring country that the statement did not name. They discussed Sudan's recovery and reconstruction, with Khartoum seeking a broader partnership with Egypt, and highlighted Egyptian technical work to assess damage and carry out maintenance at the Jebel Aulia Dam. The two countries agreed to intensify political, economic and water cooperation, including training programmes for Sudanese irrigation officials.

Egypt also reiterated its rejection of parallel governing entities in Sudan and, on the Red Sea, both sides said governance should remain the responsibility of littoral states.

The statement is one side of a long-running dispute, and Ethiopia has not been heard in this report. What it makes clear is that Cairo and Khartoum want the question settled through legal and technical channels rather than by unilateral decisions on the river.

Why it matters

The Nile is the lifeline of tens of millions of people, and how it is shared is a test of whether transboundary water can be governed by agreement rather than by facts on the ground. Clear, binding rules protect the people who depend on the river, in every basin country.