From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Wed Jul 23 2008 - 09:34:24 EDT
Nile Basin countries must integrate
July 23rd, 2008
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.
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