The Australian Broadcasting Corporation posted on 13 September 2023 a six minute podcast titled "Is Egypt's Water Supply Threatened by a Dam on the Nile?"
Now that the reservoir behind the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has been filled, this discussion looks at the legitimacy of Egypt's complaints that the structure will result to water shortages downstream.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies published on 11 July 2023 an analysis titled "Guardians of the Nile: No Interstate War, No Peace" by Natasha Hall.
While further talks are needed to resolve outstanding issues concerning the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, the timing for negotiations is not good, especially in light of the ongoing conflict in Sudan.
Nature Climate Change published in January 2023 a study titled "Cooperative Adaptive Management of the Nile River with Climate and Socio-Economic Uncertainties" by ten experts in the United Kingdom.
This technical study presents a planning framework for adaptive management of the Nile infrastructure system, combining climate projections; hydrological, river system and economy-wide simulators; and artificial intelligence multi-objective design and machine learning algorithms. It concludes that if Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt compromise cooperatively and adaptively in managing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, the national-level economic and resilience benefits are substantial, especially under climate projections with the most extreme streamflow changes.
Quartz published on 4 November 2022 an article titled "To Save Water, Egypt Should Farm Fish Instead of Crops" by Tim McDonnell.
Egypt is the top producer of farmed fish in Africa. Fish farming produces more protein and revenue per acre than crop farming, and with a lower water and carbon emissions footprint per kilo of product. While water is used only once in agriculture, fish farmers are able to use it several times. Although there are challenges, the author urges that Egyptian farmers move increasingly from crops to fish to conserve water and increase protein production.
The Institute of Developing Economies at Japan's JETRO published on 16 August 2022 a policy brief titled "Egypt and the Politics of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: An Update" by Housam Darwisheh.
The brief explains how Egypt's signing of the 2015 Declaration of Principles and the neutral position of its allies led to a stalling of negotiations and gave Ethiopia a free hand to continue unilaterally filling the GERD.
Al-Monitor published on 9 September 2022 an article titled "Egypt Determined to Disrupt Ethiopia's Ties with Uganda" by George Mikhail.
Because of differences over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Egypt is trying to undermine relations between Ethiopia and Uganda, an important member of the Nile Basin Council of Ministers and source of water for the White Nile.
The Conversation published on 6 March 2022 a commentary titled "Nile Basin At a Turning Point As Ethiopian Dam Starts Operations" by John Mukum Mbaku, Weber State University.
The author answers 5 question about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile that is now operating one of its 13 turbines.
Comment: The author makes a common mistake when he says that the Blue Nile provides more than 85 percent of the water that flows into the Nile River. ALL Ethiopian tributaries contribute about 85 percent of the water reaching the White Nile or Nile Rivers. The percentages vary from year to year, but the Blue Nile on average contributes 60 to 70 percent of the water flow.
Eurasia Review published on 9 February 2022 a commentary titled "The Horn of Africa States and Egypt" by Suleiman Walhad.
As the most important source of water for the Nile River and location of countries that form the west bank of the Red Sea south of the Suez Canal, the Horn of Africa is vitally important to Egypt. The author warns that Egypt, the Horn of Africa countries, and the Gulf States need to focus on achieving mutually good relations rather than undermining each other.
The Atlantic Council posted on 2 June 2021 a commentary titled "Egypt Has a Water Problem--And No, It's Not Only the GERD" by Yaniv Cohen.
Although Egypt's population growth rate is now a moderate 2 percent annually, between 1960 and 2020, its population increased from 27 million to over 100 million. Population growth and climate change are impacting Egypt's future of water sufficiency in ways unrelated to the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile. The water needs of Egypt's growing population threaten to outstrip the Nile River's capacity. Egypt needs to look at water conservation measures.
The Washington Post published on 15 October 2020 an article titled "Africa's Largest Dam Powers Dreams of Prosperity in Ethiopia--and Fears of Hunger in Egypt" by Max Bearak and Sudarsan Raghavan.
The authors assess the impact of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile from the perspective of Ethiopians who seek adequate electricity and Egyptian farmers who want to grow crops in the desert.
Foreign Policy posted on 24 September 2020 an article titled "The African Union Needs to Resolve Ethiopia's Dam Dispute" by Ola Owojori. a political risk specialist.
Negotiations to resolve disagreements between Ethiopia and Egypt over water allocation behind the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam involving the US Treasury Department and the World Bank have failed. It is up the African Union, which has a better understanding of the problem, to propose a solution acceptable to Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan.
Foreign Affairs published on 10 August 2020 a commentary titled "Toxic Water Politics Threaten Democracy and Regional Stability" by Michael Woldemariam.
Ethiopia has begun filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile. Egypt continues to regard the dam as a threat to its national interests. Sudan is caught in the middle of the dispute. Negotiations have failed to resolve critical outstanding issues. Toxic Nile politics are complicating the fragile democratic transitions in Ethiopia and Sudan. International relations in the Horn of Africa remain unstable and Ethiopia's and Egypt's efforts to outflank each other diplomatically add to an already explosive mix.
