ISTANBUL
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Thursday that the Nile River represents a “matter of existence” for Egypt and is “not open to adventure or compromise” amid renewed tensions with Ethiopia over its dam project.
Speaking at the closing session of the 8th Cairo Water Week, Madbouly said the event discussed “key issues at the heart of international water security,” including the challenges countries face in managing water resources to ensure security and development.
“Egypt is a clear example of these challenges, facing a complex water system with limited resources, relying more than 98% on a transboundary river alongside continuous population growth and a decline in per capita water share below the global scarcity threshold,” he said, according to a Cabinet statement.
Madbouly noted that the Nile Basin receives over 1,660 billion cubic meters of rainfall annually, yet only 84 billion cubic meters — about 5% — reach Egypt and Sudan.
“Despite this abundance, one party continues to repeat a unilateral narrative and promote misconceptions about the ownership and sources of the Nile to justify individual policies in managing a shared resource in violation of international law and the principles of transparency and coordination,” he said, referring to Ethiopia.
He stressed that claims of “contributions” to Nile waters contradict science and law, adding: “The river is not granted by anyone — it is an integrated ecological and hydrological system shared by all basin countries with balanced rights and obligations.”
“The Nile for Egypt is a matter of existence that does not tolerate adventure or compromise,” Madbouly said, affirming Cairo’s commitment to cooperation based on international law while remaining “firm in defending its rights by all legitimate means.”
Earlier in the week, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi accused Addis Ababa of harming downstream countries Egypt and Sudan through the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), calling for an African and international initiative to secure a binding agreement on its filling and operation.
The dispute over the GERD, launched by Ethiopia in 2011 and officially inaugurated last month, has strained relations among the Nile Basin states. Egypt and Sudan seek a legally binding tripartite deal on filling and operation, while Ethiopia argues that no such agreement is necessary. Negotiations resumed in 2023 but were suspended again in 2024.
The Nile, stretching 6,650 kilometers (4,132 miles), flows through 11 countries — Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt.