Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has made various diplomatic overtures across the Horn of Africa in recent weeks as part of efforts to isolate Ethiopia, raising the prospect of a long-term cold conflict between the two countries. Although largely propelled by disputes over access to the Nile River’s waters, Cairo has also sought to position itself alongside other countries that have concerns over Addis Ababa’s ambitions to expand its access to the Red Sea.

Notably, on April 28, Sisi invited Sudan’s de facto leader, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, to Cairo. In addition to discussing the Sudanese Armed Forces’ recent military successes in Sudan’s ongoing civil war, the leaders explored a range of bilateral projects, granting Egypt an opportunity to strengthen its alignment with Sudan.

Underpinning these talks were Cairo and Khartoum’s shared concerns about Addis Ababa’s unilateral steps toward advancing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) along the Nile River.

As two downstream countries that depend on the flow from the Blue Nile Basin in Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan expressed their concerns over the GERD during the meeting between Sisi and Burhan. “A convergence of perspectives between the two countries was underpinned by the close connection between the national security” of both nations, the Egyptian president’s office said in a statement released following the meeting.