African nations to seek ways of investing in Nile water

African water ministers and experts from ten Nile riparian countries are due to meet in Nairobi later this week to reactivate dialogue aimed at fostering sustainable utilization of shared waters, said a Wednesday statement from Kenya's ministry of water.

The first ever Investment Projects Conference of the Nile Basin Nations will bring together ten countries that make up the Nile Equatorial Lakes Basin - Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, DR Congo and Egypt.

"The biggest focus of the regional initiative is to harness, invest in and develop trans-boundary water bodies to generate agricultural produce and electricity generation and transmission," it said.

The statement said the target is to put 60,000 hectares of land under commercial farming and generate 100 MW of electricity to feed the regional electric grid, raising electricity exports for the originating countries.

"Kenya is hosting the conference will present and discuss current and planned regional water, agricultural and electricity projects. The Secretariat requires 2 billion U.S. dollars to complete all the projects successfully," it said.

Nile basin countries have fostered dialogue to resolve contentious issues surrounding utilization of the River.

So far, all the riparian states except Egypt and Sudan have agreed on a comprehensive framework agreement to replace the obsolete Nile treaty.

Nile basin countries have also developed policy and institutional frameworks to facilitate equitable sharing of transboundary waters. Endit