By Raymond Baguma and Joshua Masinde
(New Vision) KAMPALA, UGANDA — THE ten African countries that share the River Nile under the umbrella of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) should consider economic and political integration, an Ethiopian academic has suggested.
Dr. Tesfaye Tafesse from Addis Ababa University was presenting a paper on Benefit-sharing Framework in trans-boundary river basins during a stakeholder dialogue by the Nile Basin Discourse at Hotel Africana on Wednesday.
The countries that make up the Nile Basin are Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt, Sudan, Rwanda, DR. Congo, Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda.
He said the Nile Basin is home to 160 million people living in the ten countries, of which four of the countries are water scarce.
“A number of benefits are potentially realisable. For instance, implementation of watershed management in Ethiopian Highlands will reduce silting in Sudan,” said Tafesse.
He said the Nile which flows through arid countries of Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia, has often been a source of tension with countries such as Uganda, which are located upstream of the river.
He said that regional integration could bring about mutual dependency between the Nile Basin countries.
The NBI was established in 1999 to address water conflicts in the region, reduce poverty and promote economic integration.