Egypt and Sudan have welcomed President Donald Trump’s offer to revive US mediation with Ethiopia over the Nile waters dispute triggered by Addis Ababa’s construction of a giant hydroelectric dam
Egypt and Sudan have cautiously embraced an offer by Donald Trump to restart United States mediation with Ethiopia in an effort to resolve a long-running dispute over the waters of the Nile River, following Addis Ababa’s completion of a vast hydroelectric project.
The offer comes months after Ethiopia inaugurated the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, known as GERD, a project billed as Africa’s largest hydroelectric facility. Designed to generate more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity, the dam is intended to double Ethiopia’s power generation capacity and underpin its development ambitions. For downstream Egypt, however, the project is viewed as a direct threat to national security and water survival.
Cairo has repeatedly described the dam as a “grave violation of international law” and an “existential threat”, arguing that any reduction in Nile flows could have devastating consequences for agriculture, drinking water supplies and broader economic stability. Egypt relies almost entirely on the river to sustain its population of about 110 million, with limited alternatives in a largely desert landscape.
In a social media post, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said he valued “President Trump’s attention to the central importance of the Nile River issue for Egypt”, adding that Cairo remained committed to “serious and constructive cooperation with the Nile Basin countries, based on the principles of international law, in a manner that achieves shared interests without causing harm to any party.” He said Egypt supported US efforts to help resolve the dispute with Ethiopia.
Sudan, which lies between Ethiopia and Egypt and is also affected by how the dam is filled and operated, echoed that welcome. In a post on X, Abdel-Fattah Burhan, chairman of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council and its military chief, described Trump’s initiative as a step “to find sustainable and satisfactory solutions that preserve everyone’s rights.”
There was no immediate public response from Ethiopia to the mediation offer. Addis Ababa has consistently defended the dam as a sovereign development project and a vital tool to lift millions out of energy poverty, noting that a large share of its population still lacks access to electricity.
Trump’s intervention was outlined in a letter to el-Sissi that he shared on social media, in which he said: “I am ready to restart US mediation between Egypt and Ethiopia to responsibly resolve the question of ’The Nile Water Sharing’ once and for all.” The wording signalled a renewed willingness by Washington to engage directly in one of Africa’s most entrenched diplomatic disputes.
The United States previously attempted to broker an agreement during Trump’s first term. Those talks, which also involved Sudan, collapsed in 2020 after Ethiopia withdrew, objecting to what it saw as undue pressure. Subsequent discussions continued under the auspices of the African Union, but failed to produce a binding settlement acceptable to all sides.
At the heart of the dispute is the absence of a legally binding agreement governing how the GERD reservoir is filled and how the dam is operated in the long term. Egypt and Sudan insist that only a binding framework can protect their water security, while Ethiopia has argued for non-binding guidelines that preserve its flexibility as an upstream state.
Sudan’s concerns are more technical but no less serious. Khartoum wants advance coordination on the filling and operation of the reservoir to avoid sudden fluctuations in river flow that could affect its own dams and irrigation systems downstream. Ethiopian officials have said the dam will ultimately benefit neighbours by regulating flows and reducing flooding, but have resisted external constraints on its management.
The most sensitive issues now revolve around the pace of annual reservoir replenishment, the volume of water Ethiopia would release downstream during prolonged droughts, and the mechanism the three countries would use to resolve future disagreements. Egypt has warned that mismanagement during drought periods could sharply curtail the water it receives, with knock-on effects across food production and employment.
El-Sissi has repeatedly said that Egypt’s share of Nile water is “untouchable”, while also stressing that Cairo prefers a negotiated solution rather than escalation. Ethiopia, for its part, maintains that the $5 billion dam is essential for national development and that it has the right to exploit its natural resources.
Whether renewed US engagement can bridge these positions remains uncertain. But Egypt and Sudan’s swift endorsement of Trump’s offer underscores their frustration with the stalled African Union process and their hope that Washington’s involvement could inject momentum into talks that have dragged on for more than a decade.
