Egypt Says to Adopt Measures to Avoid GERD Water Crisis

Satellite image of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (AFP)
Satellite image of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (AFP)
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Egypt Says to Adopt Measures to Avoid GERD Water Crisis

Satellite image of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (AFP)
Satellite image of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (AFP)

Egypt has hinted at taking measures against any expected risks of a water crisis resulting from the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), as the negotiations have failed to reach a final agreement regulating the mechanism for filling and operating the dam on the main tributary of the Nile River.

Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel-Aty asserted that Egypt will prevent a water crisis, nor will it accept illegitimate unilateral moves, warning that Cairo can adopt a number of measures in response, without revealing further details.

The negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan stopped after the last round held in early April in Congo failed to reach any solutions.

The two downstream countries, Sudan and Egypt, are demanding a binding legal agreement that ensures their rights.

Ethiopia began constructing the 1.8-kilometer-long GERD in 2011 to generate power, which it says is necessary to meet the electricity needs of its 110 million people.

Addis Ababa intends to begin the second filling of the reservoir during the rainy season in July.

Last week, the US Department of State said the GERD negotiations mediated by the African Union (AU) “must resume urgently.”

“The United States is committed to providing political and technical support to facilitate a successful outcome” to these negotiations, the statement added.

However, Abdel-Aty said that the US has not presented any proposals to resolve the dispute, adding that negotiations remain deadlocked despite the efforts exerted by the Chairman of the AU.

The minister emphasized that tripartite cooperation and data sharing are needed to ensure the downstream countries will not be harmed by GERD.

Egypt suffers from an acute shortage of water resources, and according to Abdel-Aty, wastewater is being filtered more than four times to face the water problem in the country.

He reported that Egypt is building more than 120 water mixing stations to make up for the shortage, and the High Dam reservoir will only be used in cases of drought.

He noted that there would be a “water shock” if Ethiopia started the second filling process, indicating that the dam holds 27 percent of the water share reaching the downstream countries.

The official also indicated that Egypt has taken several measures to ensure there won’t be a water crisis.

However, Abdel-Aty confirmed that Ethiopia's filling of the dam last year without coordination stirred problems with Egypt and Sudan, noting that Addis Ababa seized within one week, 4.5 billion cubic meters of water without informing the two countries.

Abdel-Aty stressed Egypt's keenness to reach an agreement on filling and operating the dam with a fair and binding mechanism for resolving disputes.

He pointed out that Cairo presented many scenarios that guarantee Ethiopia’s right to development without harming Egypt's water interests, including guaranteeing 80 percent of its electricity generation needs, but Ethiopia refused.

Abdel-Aty called on the Egyptian people to save water.



Lebanon Bans Dealing with Hezbollah Financial Entity

A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
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Lebanon Bans Dealing with Hezbollah Financial Entity

A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

Lebanon's central bank has banned banks and brokerages from dealing with a Hezbollah-affiliated financial institution, according to a circular, a sign of the group's diminished sway over state affairs since its devastating war with Israel.

Keeping up military pressure on the Iran-backed group, Israel on Tuesday launched some of its heaviest airstrikes since a ceasefire in November, saying it hit training camps and weapons depots in east Lebanon. A security source in Lebanon said 12 people were killed, five of them Hezbollah fighters, Reuters reported.

Hezbollah has faced mounting pressures since the war, including financial ones.

In the circular, dated July 14 and reviewed by Reuters, Banque du Liban prohibited all licensed financial institutions in Lebanon from dealing directly or indirectly with unlicensed entities and listed Hezbollah's Al-Qard Al-Hassan as an example.

The US Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on Al-Qard Al-Hassan in 2007, saying Hezbollah used it as a cover to manage "financial activities and gain access to the international financial system".

Bolstered by its powerful arsenal, Hezbollah had long exercised decisive influence over Lebanese state affairs, but it was unable to impose its will in the formation of a post-war government in February.

Al-Qard Al-Hassan, founded in 1983, describes itself as a charitable organisation which provides loans to people according to Islamic principles that forbid interest. Israel struck some of its branches during its war with Hezbollah last year.

Operating as a not-for-profit organisation under a licence granted by the Lebanese government, it has more than 30 branches, mostly in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

SHADOW ECONOMY

A Lebanese official said the central bank move had been in the works for months, and reflected US pressure on Lebanon to take action against Hezbollah's financial wing.

Nassib Ghobril, chief economist at Byblos Bank, said Lebanese banks were already careful to avoid dealing with Al-Qard Al-Hassan because it is under US sanctions.

"The important point is that finally the authorities are addressing the shadow economy in Lebanon, which is the real problem," he said, adding that authorities had long failed to address its "toxic effects".

In June, the European Commission included Lebanon in an updated list of high-risk jurisdictions presenting strategic deficiencies in their national anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism.

Last year, global financial crime watchdog FATF placed Lebanon on its "grey list" of countries under special scrutiny.