President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has warned there would be severe regional consequences if Egypt’s water supply were affected by a giant hydropower dam being built by Ethiopia.
Egypt, along with its southern neighbour Sudan, is seeking a legally binding agreement over the operations of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which Addis Ababa says is crucial to its economic development.
However, talks have repeatedly stalled over the past 10 years and Ethiopia began filling the reservoir behind the dam last year with no deal in place. It is expected to add water for a second year after seasonal rains start this summer.
“I’m not threatening anyone here, our dialogue is always reasonable and rational,” el-Sisi said. “I say once again no one can take a drop from Egypt’s water, and if it happens there will be inconceivable instability in the region.
“Any act of hostility is detestable … but our reaction in the event that we are affected” by a reduction in Egypt’s own water supply “will affect the stability of the entire region”, he declared at a news conference in the Suez city of Ismailia.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/30/egypts-sisi-warns-ethiopia-dam-risks-unimaginable-instability
