By Asha Elmi - Reporter
ADDIS ABABA, 3 October 2026 - Ethiopia has established a national committee to assess losses it says resulted from Egypt’s opposition to more than 22 development projects, including the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Ethiopia’s Minister of Water and Energy said.
Minister Habtamu Itefa said the committee had gathered evidence on projects that Ethiopia says were blocked or obstructed by Egypt and was preparing to quantify the financial impact.
“We have established a national committee. Already, we recounted more than 22 projects that have been blocked or obstructed by Egyptians, including the GERD Dam,” Itefa said in an interview with the Ethiopian News Agency aired on Friday.
He said the committee includes experts, former ministers, advisers and legal specialists and was examining the issue across several areas, including identifying the total losses Ethiopia says have been imposed on the country because of opposition to its development projects.
The minister also cited what he described as payments for ecosystem services, arguing that Ethiopia’s reforestation and water-management efforts provide benefits to downstream countries.
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Itefa said Ethiopia had planted more than 50 billion trees and argued that its environmental efforts, including those in river basins feeding the Nile, had broader regional benefits.
He also said the GERD could help reduce the effects of extreme flooding and drought downstream, arguing that the dam could provide benefits to both Sudan and Egypt.
Egypt has repeatedly raised concerns over the GERD, particularly its operation and the impact of its reservoir on downstream Nile flows. Ethiopia says the dam is critical to its development and electricity generation and has maintained that it will not significantly harm downstream countries.
Itefa said Ethiopia was pursuing development and economic growth and called on Egypt to support what he described as a mutually beneficial approach.