Ethiopia at the UNGA: Debt Relief, Security, and the Future of Africa’s Voice in Global Governance

President Taye Atske-Selassie participated in the celebration of the commissioning of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the achievements made towards the anticipated Nile River Basin Commission (NRBC) during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. This truly marks a great development for Ethiopia and the entire Nile River Basin. In his speech, the president also addressed the issues of debt, sea access, regional security, and Africa's representation in global bodies, and he represented both as “epic milestones” that will change the future of the Nile Basin countries forever. He showed the great opportunities and obstacles that the area has in terms of diplomacy, oil, and water. His message focused mostly on the completion of the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) and the subsequent establishment of the NRBC, which has its headquarters in Entebbe, Uganda. At the level of head of state, the Commission should oversee and coordinate the utilization of resources of the Nile. Political barriers have caused progress to be slower than expected, despite the Nile Basin Initiative, a transitional arrangement, having stated that the Commission will be established by September 2025. Therefore, President Taye's guarantee that the commission is getting close to being established had both symbolic and useful significance. Declaring that the CFA represents the notion of equitable and reasonable use of the Nile, a concept that confronts long-standing imbalances in water administration, he presented this as a historic turning point.