Public-private-partnerships now vital to move project forward CAIRO: The ministers of irrigation of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, making up the Eastern Nile basin, announced Tuesday they have secured $750 million in loans and grants to implement the seven-year-old Nile Basin Initiative (NBI). The announcement came at the conclusion of talks, which were scheduled in August, but postponed to September amid fears of tensions having flared once again between Egypt and Ethiopia on the distribution of Nile water. Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources (MIWR) Mahmoud Abou Zeid then said the postponement was agreed upon because of hot weather conditions in August. The ministers declined to cite the sources of funding, referring to them only as major international financing institutions. A MIWR official was not available for comment as of press time. The World Bank, which has played the role of mediator and peacemaker since the Initiative s early days, estimates 600 million people in Africa are expected to suffer from water scarcity by 2020. The main reasons, cite the institution s studies, are non-efficient use of water and lack of international cooperation in utilizing the continent s more than 60 shared rivers. Representing the World Bank at the latest round of negotiations, David Gray, World Bank international water resources expert, said Nile Basin countries have made progress on future cooperation, but declined to specify. Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have occasionally exchanged threats reaching the use of military force to protect each country s annual water quotas. In a press conference Tuesday, Abou Zeid said the funds include $250 for feasibility studies and $500 for the initiation of public-private-partnerships (PPP) in energy generation, agriculture, industry and transportation projects via the Nile. Gray, who has long promoted the PPP model, said the World Bank will be involved in advisory and supervisory capacities, as requested, to promote the long term success of the project. Sudan and Ethiopia have repeatedly attempted to rework a 1959 agreement that gives Egypt the right to at least 55.5 billion cubic meters per year but have been met with strong Egyptian resistance. NBI promotes cooperation between its 10 member countries to better utilize the river s waters, of which an estimated 90 percent are wasted annually. Work on eight projects located mostly in Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan has already begun. In the long run, the initiative aims to increase power output in countries where the river originates, such as Ethiopia and Uganda, which would allow agriculture to flourish in Sudan and industry to grow in Egypt. In the end, NBI relies on sharing these products in order to benefit the whole region. The conference comes on the heals of Ethiopia s July announcement of the beginning of construction on a 1,870 megawatt hydroelectric project on the Omo-Gibe River. The project, which will allow Ethiopia to harness enough power to satisfy national demand and export to neighboring countries, is scheduled for completion in 2011. Addressing long-standing Egyptian fears that power generation at the Nile s source will affect the amount of water reaching Egypt, Ayman Abdel Wahab, environmental analyst at the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies says studies have not proven those fears true. He adds the initiative has helped member countries realize the importance to understand each other s needs and cooperate in order to avoid a potential crisis in the future. The commitment in the last three years to reach agreement, especially between Ethiopia and Egypt, has especially been strengthened, he says. The relationship has developed much more, says Abd El Wahab. The Ethiopian side has come to understand better the importance of the Nile to projects in Egypt, and the Egyptian side now understands the Ethiopian needs can be met without lowering its share. The next NBI talks are scheduled for November to discuss suggestions for the institutional and legal framework of the initiative and discuss promotion of the project to the private sector, says Abou Zeid.
