CAIRO — The visit of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki to the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) during his official visit to Ethiopia on Oct. 13 raised several questions about the impact of such rapprochement on the Egyptian diplomatic moves to galvanize the support of the neighboring countries for Egypt in the Nile dam dispute. The dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia revolves around the Nile water management and dealing with the potential risks and adverse effects of the GERD on Egyptian water security. 

Since Ethiopia first announced the construction of the GERD under Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in April 2011, Afwerki had expressed negative stances on the dam.

During a televised interview in January 2016, Afwerki had said, “Ethiopia does not seek to generate power and [ensure] development for its people. The dam serves other political goals, which is to use the Nile waters to strongarm Egyptians and Sudanese as did Turkey with Syria and Iraq.”

Eritrea’s position opposing the dam served as a path of coordination and rapprochement with Egypt, which raised the ire of Ethiopia. In fact, Addis Ababa has accused Cairo, on several occasions, of using Eritrea to pressure and destabilize Ethiopia. This is particularly true given the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia since the independence war in the 1990s, and the state of no war, no peace between the two countries.