{"id":5098,"date":"2026-01-05T13:40:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T13:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/5098\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T13:40:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T13:40:19","slug":"scholars-reject-any-denial-of-ethiopias-abay-river-red-sea-rights-ena-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/5098\/","title":{"rendered":"Scholars Reject Any Denial of Ethiopia\u2019s Abay River, Red Sea Rights – ENA English"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 5, 2026 (ENA)\u2014University scholars have strongly rejected any attempt to deny Ethiopia\u2019s legal, historical and geographical rights to utilize the Abay River and secure access to the Red Sea, describing such positions as unacceptable and detached from present realities.
The scholars emphasized that Egypt\u2019s continued reliance on colonial era narratives over the Abay River has no place in the modern world. <\/p>\n

\u00a0Ethiopia\u2019s use of its natural resources is a legitimate right grounded in international principles and historical facts, they noted.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0The scholars noted that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) was completed through the collective effort, resources and determination of the Ethiopian people, despite repeated external attempts to obstruct the project. <\/p>\n

\u00a0They said firm government leadership, sustained diplomatic engagement and strong public participation enabled Ethiopia to foil what they described as conspiratorial efforts, leading to the completion of the dam in September 2025.<\/p>\n

\u00a0They also underlined that Ethiopia\u2019s ongoing efforts to secure sea access are based on historical, legal, geographical and natural grounds, describing sea outlet access as an existential issue for the country.<\/p>\n

Approached by ENA, scholars from Hawassa University said it is impossible to deny Ethiopia\u2019s legal and natural rights to development and utilization of the Abay River and access to the Red Sea.<\/p>\n

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A researcher at the Rift Valley Research Center under Hawassa University Institute of Technology, Mihret Denanto, said, \u201cAny country has the right to develop and use its natural resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0He added that Ethiopia has every right to properly develop and utilize the Abay and other water resources, stressing that \u201cEgypt\u2019s colonial narrative is unthinkable and outdated in this era.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Mihret further emphasized that alongside water resource development, securing a sea outlet through the Red Sea is essential. <\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u201cEthiopia\u2019s right to secure a sea outlet is appropriate by all standards and it is also a matter of survival,\u201d he said, adding that realizing this goal should be \u201cthe responsibility of all and the homework of the generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0For his part, a lecturer and researcher at the university\u2019s Department of Water Resources and Engineering, Tewodros Assefa, stressed the need to continue strengthening efforts to develop and utilize Ethiopia\u2019s water resources and to advance access to the Red Sea.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cEgypt\u2019s attempts to hinder Ethiopia\u2019s development efforts and its right to use its resources are completely unacceptable,\u201d he said, adding that Ethiopia\u2019s legal and natural rights to develop and utilize the Abay River and secure access to the Red Sea \u201ccannot be obstructed by outdated colonial ideology.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"January 5, 2026 (ENA)\u2014University scholars have strongly rejected any attempt to deny Ethiopia\u2019s legal, historical and geographical rights…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[262,65,305,261],"class_list":{"0":"post-5098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ethiopia","8":"tag-economy","9":"tag-ethiopia","10":"tag-featured","11":"tag-politics"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}