Arab Finance: Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Sameh Shoukry said that Ethiopia is procrastinating in yielding a fair binding agreement for filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which Egypt sees as an "existential threat," Asharq Business reported on February 11^th.

Shoukry added, during the opening of the annual conference of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs (ECFA), reiterated that reaching an agreement regarding the GERD is "an indispensable necessity."

The conference is themed “Repercussions of military operation in Ukraine for conditions in Middle East region and Egypt.”

The Egyptian foreign Affairs Minister also warned that the African continent is facing water security serious challenges, noting that "these challenges are exacerbated with the desire of some upstream countries to monopolize water resources without regard for the capabilities of other riparian countries."

Egypt receives around 60 billion cubic meters (BCM) of water annually, mainly from the Nile.

In August 2022, Ethiopia announced that it completed unilaterally the third filling of its mega-dam on the Nile River.

Egypt has been in talks with Sudan and Ethiopia since 2011 in an attempt to reach a binding agreement regarding the GERD. Negotiations have been stalled since April 2021.

Egypt’s Water Resources in Focus Updated 7/26/2025 9:00:00 AM

Egypt, Ethiopia agree to settle GERD dispute within 4 months Updated 7/16/2023 8:07:00 AM