Ministers and government technocrats from the ten Nile Basin countries raised concern that transboundary investments along the River Nile water resources have either stalled or not going on as planned because of a lack of financial resources. Water and Environment Ministry Permanent Secretary, Alfred Okot Okidi, speaking on behalf of Uganda said the investments would have ensured benefits like food production, energy generation and water security.
Lack of funds in the country and at
the transboundary level is hampering attempts to limit fights over River Nile water
through development projects. The concern is one of the highlights
as countries in the Nile Basin celebrated the annual Nile day held on
February 22.
Ministers and government technocrats
from the ten Nile Basin countries raised concern that transboundary
investments along the River Nile water resources have either stalled or not
going on as planned because of a lack of financial resources. Water and Environment Ministry
Permanent Secretary, Alfred Okot Okidi, speaking on behalf of Uganda said the investments would
have ensured benefits like food production, energy generation and water
security.
“The Nile drops by more than five meters between Lake Victoria and lake
Albert representing underestimated capacity of over 4,000 megawatts and at the
moment we have developed only 800 and finishing six hundred. The population is
growing and this is good for development” said Okidi.
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Okidi noted that if countries and donors provided the need funds, the
fishing industry within Lake Victoria would be organized to ensure that the
resources are better managed to benefit the citizens within the Nile Basin.
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Rwanda’s Minister of the Environment, Jeanne d'Arc
Mujawamariya said it is critical funds are mobilized for the planned investment
to take off. Mujawamariya also the current
chairperson of the Nile Council of Ministers said it is crucial that people feel
the benefits from Nile Water if they are to guard water and related resources.
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Mujawamariya said water resources
need to be equitably and sustainably used adding that it requires joint
investments for better impact. "We all need water to survive,
we need energy as a key pillar of economic development. However, we can only
benefit equitably and sustainably from the shared River Nile by having a
cooperation framework," she said.
The theme of Nile day 2021 was ‘Rethinking regional investments in the Nile Basin'. Nile Basin Initiative(NBI)
is currently implementing 84 investment projects valued at over USD 6.5 billion.
The funding for investment
projects should be provided by the ten countries under the Nile Basin
Initiative as well as development partners.
One of such projects is a Regional
Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project under joint development by the Governments
of the Republic of Burundi, the Republic of Rwanda and the United Republic of Tanzania.
The waters of the Nile River are the
heart of East Africa, providing a vital source of drinking water, irrigation,
fish, hydropower, and transport to 200 million people living in the basin.
The Nile spans 10 countries – Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt,
Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda – making for
complex transboundary relations, especially between upstream and downstream
countries along the river.
