ABSTRACT
The Nile Basin covers 3 million km2 – 10 per cent of Africa, and is shared by ten countries: Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. The total population is 300 million people, with 160 million in the basin itself (2000 figures). Despite its natural endowments, the region faces severe challenges: poverty, instability, rapid population growth and environmental degradation. Yet the Nile holds opportunities for cooperative management and development that could serve as a catalyst for greater regional integration. Recognizing this, in February 1999, the Nile riparian countries established the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) to fight poverty and promote socioeconomic development in the region. The initiative is guided by a Shared Vision ‘to achieve sustainable socio development through the equitable utilisation of, and benefit from, the common Nile Basin water resources’.
