Nile Day: $6.5B investment projects underway

By Addis Getachew

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AA) - Ahead of annual celebrations of the Nile Day on Monday, the Nile Basin Initiative said 84 projects were either implemented or were in the pipeline at a total cost of $6.5 billion.

In a statement Friday, Executive Director of the NBI Secretariat, Prof Seifeldin Hamad Abdalla, said: "Member states have worked together to negotiate, agree, prepare and, in some cases, implement investment projects with shared regional benefits and the potential to ultimately benefit millions of inhabitants."

He added: "The set of investment projects already implemented and those under implementation have clearly demonstrated the viability and value addition of transboundary infrastructure investments."

The projects, among other sectors, are related to hydropower development, power transmission interconnection and trade, irrigation and drainage, fisheries, flood protection and early warning system, multi-sector investment opportunity studies, and inland waterway transport.

Activities to mark the day include a ministerial roundtable during which members of the Nile Council of Ministers (Nile-COM) and NBI’s development partners will share experiences, successes and challenges in implementing the projects and agree on the way forward.

Nile Day 2021, to be held virtually due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, will be followed by the annual strategic dialogue meeting between NBI governance and development partners.

Nile Day is organized annually in recognition of the establishment of NBI in 1999. The day provides an opportunity for Basin citizens and friends of the Nile to come together to celebrate the benefits of Nile cooperation and to exchange experiences, views and ideas.

The rallying theme for this year’s event is "Rethinking Regional Investments in the Nile Basin."