Ethiopia Rebukes Egyptian Minister’s Derogatory Attack on Ethiopians

Addis Ababa, September 22, 2026 (FMC) — Ethiopia has strongly rebuked recent remarks by Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation suggesting that Ethiopians lack education, describing the remarks as deeply regrettable and as another manifestation of what it called Cairo’s “crude colonial mentality” toward African states.

In a statement, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Water and Energy said the remarks expose a broader approach in which Cairo continues to regard its approval as a prerequisite for riparian countries of the Abay/Nile to develop their water resources.

The Ministry pointed to what it described as a stark double standard, recalling that Egypt proceeded with the construction of the Aswan High Dam without consulting any upstream riparian state, while now seeking to make its approval a condition for the development of water resources by other sovereign countries.

Such inflammatory remarks and the double standards they embody, the Ministry stressed, have no place in the context of basin-wide cooperation.

Ethiopia reaffirmed its sovereign right to utilize its natural resources, including the Abay River, to meet the needs of its present and future generations.

It underscored that Ethiopia has consistently maintained that transboundary rivers should be drivers of cooperation, shared prosperity, and regional integration—not instruments of monopolistic contention and exclusion.

The Ministry categorically rejected any notion of “hydro-imperialism” seeking to deny source countries their inherent rights as sovereign nations.

While some continue to frame the Abay primarily through the lens of security and zero-sum competition, the Ministry said Ethiopia has invested heavily in watershed rehabilitation, afforestation, and environmental conservation to strengthen the basin’s long-term sustainability.

It said Ethiopia’s approach stands in sharp contrast to the hostile narrative that has too often dominated official discourse in Cairo.

The Ministry called on Cairo to abandon its obsolete policy and approach the matter with a 21st-century outlook grounded in mutual respect and the enlightened long-term interests of all.

“It is time to retire outdated hegemonic dreams and embrace the dawn of a new reality,” the Ministry declared.