Egypt’s Nile TV Rebrand Sparks Outrage Amid GERD Tensions with Ethiopia

CAIRO - Egyptians are again bitter with Ethiopia after the bruising battle over the construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD), which is being done on the Blue Nile, with Cairo arguing that the move would reduce the downstream flow of the Nile River.

But this time, the decision by Ahmed El-Meslemany, head of Egypt’s National Media Authority, to change the name and logo of the state television channel Nile_TV International to Egypt News Network (ENN) has sparked widespread criticism and discontent, the Middle East Today reports.

The National News Media Authority announced plans to introduce initials ENN, akin to the Ethiopian News Network, which they insist could cause "unnecessary confusion" in the branding strategy.

The new name, however, has been widely criticized. Egypt’s Nile TV Rebrand Sparks Outrage Amid GERD Tensions with Ethiopia, particularly because it is identical to an Ethiopian channel that already operates on various social media platforms.

Commentators described the move as “choosing names without study or effort, as happened before when programme names were announced and later withdrawn” after it became clear they duplicated existing ones.

One user wrote: “Those who issued or helped make the decision did not even bother to check if other channels carried the same abbreviated English name, ENN.” He added that he hoped El-Meslemany would reconsider the decision carefully.

Dr Azza Ahmed Heikal, former dean of the Faculty of Language and Media at the Arab Academy and daughter of former culture minister Dr Ahmed Heikal, said she completely rejected the name change. She added, “Who has the right to erase the name ‘Nile’? This is totally unacceptable.”

GAROWE ONLINE