Nile Basin Countries Need to Build Trust, Confidence to Benefit from Water Resource: Experts

Addis Ababa May 11/2021 (ENA) Nile Basin countries should work in harmony to build trust and confidence and benefit from the river, Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) Secretariat Executive Director Professor Seifeldin Hamad said.

NBI Secretariat Executive Director Professor Seifeldin told ENA that it is very important the countries work together to reach a common understanding for the benefit of the countries

“Most of the big investment projects have transboundary significance. So it’s important for the countries to build trust and confidence and work together in harmony so that they can benefit from the water resources of the Nile basin,” he added.

Furthermore, he noted that creating such atmosphere will accelerate the pace of development and allow the countries to think about economic integration.

Professor Seifeldin recalled that one of the objectives of establishing the Nile Basin initiative is to support social and economic development of the basin through the development of the river.

Historically people have been talking for centuries about sharing the water, he said, adding that “but now because this is an advanced era and sharing the benefits is easier than sharing the waters.”

Nile Basin Initiative Resources Management and Development Programme Officer, Maro A. Tola said on his part it is important to balance the development of all the Nile Basin countries with resources that is there.

“This require joint planning, joint visioning and actions. If we go unitarily, we will not go anywhere because resource is shared. Therefore, we need to balance the development of all the Nile Basin countries with the resources that is there. We should join efforts in all fronts.”  

Moreover, “we have shared rivers globally crossing from one country to another. Clear mechanisms of how to allocate the water have been done and implemented. We need to learn from those examples and come to our basin and do the same,” he elaborated.  

Tola recalled about the Colorado River shared between two countries that have very well elaborative mechanisms on how equitably they share that water.

Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office (ENTRO) Social and Development and Communication Head, Wubalem Fekade said the Nile Basin countries should cooperate and ensure the sustainability of Nile River for equitable benefit.

“The basin population is growing and it will soon double to be one billion. But the amount of the water flowing from the Nile is not doubling, following the population. There will be water scarcity and competition between the countries that will lead to conflict,” he noted.

There is no choice rather that cooperation among the countries, the head stressed, adding that “the idea of bringing the countries together to plan together is very important.”

The Nile river basin contains over 10% of Africa's landmass, in 11 countries: Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Egypt, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, and Kenya.