Addis Ababa, October 1, 2026 (FMC) — Ethiopia has established a national committee to assess and pursue compensation for development losses it says have resulted from the obstruction of more than 22 projects by Egypt, including the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Minister of Water and Energy Engineer Habtamu Itefa said.
The committee has already begun identifying the projects, compiling evidence and assessing the scale of the losses Ethiopia says it has suffered as a result of impediments to its development in the Abbay Basin.
“We have established a national committee. Already we counted more than 22 projects that have been blocked or obstructed by Egyptians, including the GERD,” Habtamu said in an interview with local media.
He said Ethiopia has already collected evidence on the projects and is preparing a comprehensive assessment of the development opportunities it says were denied to the country.
The minister said the committee brings together experts, former ministers, existing advisers and legal professionals, who are working on three major areas: establishing the total amount of losses Ethiopia says were imposed on it because of restrictions on its development, examining the basis and avenues for compensation and assessing the wider value of Ethiopia’s environmental and water-management contributions.
“Number one is to identify and to claim the total amount of loss that they have imposed on Ethiopia because of our development,” Habtamu said.
The minister was also explicit about the pressure Ethiopia says it has faced over projects such as the GERD. He said Egypt had attempted to threaten Ethiopia by projecting its military power as a means of exerting pressure.
“They even try to threaten the country as well, to say as if they have a giant military power and then come to exercise something, which is really a crime in front of the international community,” he said.
Habtamu said Ethiopia’s assessment is not limited to projects that were blocked from implementation. It also considers the country’s extensive investment in environmental conservation, watershed development and water-resource management across the Abbay and other river basins, and the benefits that such efforts generate downstream.
Ethiopia has planted **56.8 billion tree seedlings** throughout the country under the Green Legacy Initiative since its launch in 2019. Habtamu said 30 percent of those trees were planted in the Baro, Abbay and Tekeze river basins, linking Ethiopia’s massive environmental investment to the protection of water resources and efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The minister said the value of such contributions should also be taken into account in assessing Ethiopia’s position, noting that the environmental and climate-related benefits run into billions of dollars under available standards.
He further highlighted the GERD as an example of Ethiopian infrastructure whose benefits extend beyond the country, particularly through its capacity to store and regulate water.
Citing current El Niño conditions and below-average rainfall, Habtamu argued that downstream countries are benefiting from water that Ethiopia is able to regulate and release through the dam during periods when rainfall is insufficient.
“This year, it is El Nino. El Nino means the amount of rainfall we received is below than the average,” he said. “So they couldn’t have gotten the amount of water that we are giving them now, had there been no dam.”
He also pointed to the role of regulated water flows in reducing the risks of catastrophic flooding, particularly in Sudan.
“They could have been suffered due to the catastrophic effect of flood before years, especially the Sudanese people,” he said. “Had there been no dam, there could have been worse issues.”
The minister said Ethiopia’s development cannot be separated from its broader efforts to protect its natural resources, expand its economy and build infrastructure capable of serving both its own population and the wider region.
“We are already on the right track in terms of development and economic growth,” Habtamu said, arguing that Egypt should recognize and support that trajectory rather than oppose it.
“So Egyptians have to support that. They have to agree with what we mean, which is win-win,” he said.
The establishment of the committee puts Ethiopia’s compensation claims into a formal national process, with experts and legal professionals now tasked with documenting projects, quantifying losses and examining the basis for claims arising from what Ethiopia says has been the obstruction of its development in the Abbay Basin.
At the same time, Habtamu emphasized that Ethiopia’s preferred course remains negotiation and mutual understanding, framing the country’s development, equitable use of its water resources and cooperation with downstream states as capable of producing what he described as a “win-win” outcome.