The Nile – perhaps the longest river in the world – has witnessed an unparalleled record of human history. Monuments in the river basin from the Great Pyramids at Giza in Egypt, to the Stele of Axum, Ethiopia, are testament to the extraordinary
civilizations that have grown up and been nourished by this great river. In more recent history the wider basin has seen huge transformations as societies have harnessed the Nile’s resources for development by reducing flooding and evening out flows, by providing irrigation water to everlarger expanses of cultivated land, and through the energy generation of huge hydropower dams. As the Nile and its inhabitants progress towards the middle of the 21st Century, this is also a river under some of the greatest global pressures – from climate uncertainties and population growth, through to rapid economic development and political change. Many parts of the basin have been beset by conflcts over many years and levels of human development in some areas are in the bottom tier of international indices. In short the challenge remain huge, and, in some places, are growing.Two decades ago, the basin states decided to put into action the Nile Basin Initiative. indful of wider development challenges, the NBI sought collective action solutions to sustainably developing the basin’s resources, and to provide the basis for future equitable development across all Nile countries. This was no small task, but 20 years later it remains more important than ever – and as difficult. In any international context where country inhabitants number hundreds of millions – approaching a billion by 2050 in the Nile’s case – supporting development processes is a complex undertaking involving difficult trade-offs amid competing (and growing) demands. In a system as dynamic as the Nile – in all economic, social, political, climatic and environmental senses – this is even more complicate