The three countries, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Sudan, continued the negotiations on Cooperative Framework Agreement CFA until 2007 when Sudan and Egypt raised objections. The objections were mainly focused on the potential threats to the traditional water rights. The objection reduced the excitement of the JMP until a stalemate was reached in 2009 (Ghoreishi et al., 2023). Interviews with Egyptian, Ethiopian, and Sudanese officials (2008–2010) suggest that Egypt’s misgivings about the JMP’s technical results translated into receding participation, even as Ethiopia and Sudan attempted through ENSAP to draw Egypt back in (Cascão & Nicol, 2016; Ghoreishi et al., 2023) . With the political steam running out, Ethiopia decided to go ahead with its national hydropower projects, among them the GERD, to respond to the country’s growing energy needs, as highlighted in the inauguration speech by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi (Cascão & Nicol, 2016).