Nile River Basin Investment Plan

The key expected results from the Nile River Basin Investment Plan include an increase in wastewater treatment capacity of 150,000 m3/day, an increase of 1,000 MW of installed hydropower generation capacity; an increase of 50 MW in installed generation capacity (MW) for alternative green energy sources relative and 10 GWh/yr increase in power traded between countries. The plan is also expected to deliver an improvement of navigation along a 400 km stretch of waterway, and an increase of US$2 million/year in value of bulk goods transported by water between Nile countries, and an increase of US$1million in value of intra-basin agricultural trade per year, an increase of 25,000 ha of watershed under improved management and a 5% reduction in human deaths as well as 5% reduction in economic damage resulting from climate-related natural disasters.

The overarching consideration in setting the interim targets is to achieve as large an impact as possible with resources that can reasonably be mobilised in the 10-year implementation period. In the longer-term, when the Nile River Basin Management Plan has been fully prepared, the Basin Investment Plan targets will be replaced by targets drawn from the Nile River Basin Management Plan (NR-BMP).

The Nile River Basin Investment Plan (NR-BIP) is important and deserving of support because it will help to scale up investments and deliver increased benefits to the Nile riparian countries in terms of socio-economic development, poverty reduction, job creation, livelihood improvement, water, food and energy security, capacity building, etc. It will also improve coordination and develop synergies amongst regional organisations, thereby leading to avoidance of duplication and greater efficiency in resource use (financial, human and technical capacities) and support the achievement of greater integration across water-related sectors to more sustainable development. The NR-BIP will provide orientation and a mechanism for prioritisation and improved delivery of regionally-significant water-related investments in the Nile Basin as well as contribute to building trust and confidence and deepening of Nile cooperation amongst Nile riparian countries and support regional integration through cooperatively planned and managed water infrastructure, regional power trade, navigation and trade in agricultural products.

Three Nile Navigation Scenarios are being looked into for the Nile River Basin Investment Plan.

1. Baseline Scenario (Business as Usual/Current Status quo scenario) - How the Nile-NAV is at the moment and what water requirements are needed to keep it going;
2. Minimum Impacts Scenario (Low-impacts and No-Regret Developments scenario); and
3. Full development scaneior/high impacts development scenario, which is a combination of baseline scenario and National Development Plans up to 2038. Here, NBI may consider all developments planned by the countries.

The NR-BIP will support investments in the support of the goals of the NR-BIP related to water energy and food security, environmental sustainability and climate resilience goals of the NR-BIP.

The NR-BIP is structured around three strategic investment areas, namely: (1) water security and climate resilient water resources management; (2) food security and agricultural water management; and (3) energy security: regional power trade and renewable power generation.

The approach for the projects section to form the NR-BIP project portfolio is also fully described in the project document. A project selection criterion has been outlined, which will be used to screen projects and rank them. Thereafter, the first projects intake for the BIP will be prepared and presented to the Head of States Summit for their pronouncement and visibility that will enable resource mobilisation and implementation.

The NR-BIP is a multisectoral programme that includes all key players in the Nile Basin, for example, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Nile Basin Initiative Secretariat (Nile-SEC), The Nile Basin Initiative Subsidiary Action Programmes (NELSAP-CU and ENTRO), Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC), Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD), East Africa Power Pool (EAPP) and the NBI Member States.

This investment area deals with growing demand for water from multiple sectors against a background of increasing population with the associated increasing environmental degradation and increasing pollution of surface and groundwaters, and growing impacts of climate change. This area includes increasing efficiency of water supply systems and managing demand, mobilisation alternative sources of water, adapting the water system to climate risks, maintaining the Nile's river flows and maintaining the Nile's river quality.

This investment area addresses the challenges of the Nile riparian countries to produce sufficient food to feed their populations due to inefficient farming systems, and impacts of water stress and climate change, set against a background of rising demand for food from a growing population, and low intra-basin trade in agricultural products. It entails irrigation development and enhanced agricultural water management, enhancing agricultural water and soil management for climate smart, drought resilient rainfed agriculture and regional trade and cross investments in agricultural production. 

This investment area addresses the challenge of power supply shortages and low electrification rates in the region due to insufficient power generation and low regional power trade against a backdrop of rising power demand and necessity to efficiently transition to a renewable power sources. It entails the development and rehabilitation of hydropower generation capacity and dam safety, the development of other renewable sources of power, and regional power trade and interconnections.