Egypt Expected to Embrace Cooperation as Ethiopia Exercises Its Water Rights: Prof. Yacob

Addis Ababa, August 25, 2026 (ENA)— Egypt is expected to pursue cooperation for shared benefit as Ethiopia exercises its sovereign right to harness and develop its water resources, Hydro politics scholar Professor Yacob Arsano told ENA.

Water development in Ethiopia is still in its infancy, Prof. Yacob underscored.

“Ethiopia’s water resources remain largely underdeveloped, yet they will be central to the country’s future economic growth and development,” he noted, stressing that the country’s water resources remain largely untapped for agriculture, power generation, tourism and other productive sectors, the renowned scholar said.

He noted that Ethiopia’s future growth and development will inevitably depend, in significant part, on its ability to effectively harness and utilize its water resources on Abay (Nile) River.

“Therefore, its right to utilize its water resources is guaranteed,” the professor said.

Professor Yacob further emphasized that the Ethiopian government and its people are determined to turn that right into reality.

Yacob stressed that Ethiopia does not require permission from Egypt to develop its own water resources.

“Fundamentally, no one is waiting for Egypt to grant permission,” he said, adding that Ethiopia has never sought Egypt’s permission to utilize and develop its water resources and will not do so in the future.

At the same time, he emphasized that Ethiopia’s assertion of its sovereign development rights does not rule out cooperation.

“The door remains open if Egypt comes to its senses and returns to negotiations,” Prof. Yacob said.

He added that Ethiopia’s position is broadly shared by other upstream Abay (Nile) Basin countries, which maintain their right to utilize their water resources for development while remaining open to cooperation based on dialogue and mutual benefit.

Ethiopia’s approach, he said, is therefore anchored in two principles: the sovereign right to develop its water resources and the willingness to cooperate for shared benefit.

Ethiopia has planned to consolidate the momentum created by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) by expanding investment in additional mega dams on the Abay River.

In his recent interview, Water and Energy Minister Habtamu Itefa said:  “Ethiopia does not need permission from anyone to develop its water resources as it is a sovereign country,”. 

“Who said that we need permission from anyone? Ethiopia is a sovereign country... Look, we built the GERD without the permission, and we will also build other dams on other river basins whenever the needs arise,” he elaborated.