Nile Basin Ministers of Water Achieve Agreement on
Cooperative Projects as Historic Meeting Wraps Up

KHARTOUM, SUDAN, March 29, 2001: An historic meeting
of Ministers of Water Affairs from the Nile Basin
countries ended here today with agreement to cooperate
on seven basin-wide projects. The meeting marks an
important milestone of the Nile Basin Initiative
(NBI), an unprecedented partnership which has united
nine African countries in pursuit of sustainable
development and management of the River Nile water
resources.

"I and my colleagues from the Nile Basin have agreed
to endorse a number of proposed basin-wide project
proposals under the NBI Shared Vision Program which,
when funded, will contribute to socio-economic
development and poverty alleviation in our countries,"
said Mr. Kamal Ali Mohamed, Minister of Irrigation and
Water Resources in Sudan and current Chairman of the
Nile Council of Ministers of Water Affairs of the Nile
Basin States (Nile-COM). "We have also agreed to
schedule the first International Consortium for
Cooperation on the Nile (ICCON) an international
donor forum led by the World Bank for June 26 to 28
of this year in Geneva," the minister said.

The Minister from Uganda, Mr. Henry Muganwa Kajura, on
his part said: "It has taken three years of
stakeholder consultations and intensive regional
discussions to reach this consensus," adding that
"through broad consultation, we have tried to identify
the priorities and concerns of key stakeholders
throughout the Basin. Their input has been critical to
the development of these project proposals."

"This watershed agreement reflects the new spirit of
cooperation between the countries of the Nile," said
the Minister from Ethiopia, Mr. Shiferaw Jarso.

In addition to the basin-wide Shared Vision Program
projects, the Council of Ministers endorsed the
sub-basin projects being prepared under the sub-basin
Subsidiary Action Programs (SAPs). The two sub-basin
programs under the NBI, the Eastern Nile (ENSAP) and
the Nile Equatorial Lakes (NELSAP) presented various
priority projects at the meeting. These projects
ranged from efficient water use for agriculture and
hydropower interconnection, to watershed management.

ENSAP includes Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan while NELSAP
brings together Burundi, the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and
Uganda.

The NBI is a transitional regional partnership that
brings together nine of the ten countries of the Nile
basin: Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and
Uganda. Eritrea, which is participating as an
observer, has expressed strong interest in joining
this historic partnership. At the heart of the NBI is
the urgent need to alleviate poverty.

For further information contact:

Dr. Osman El Tom Hamad
Nile-TAC Chairman
Ministry of Irrigation & Water Resources
Khartoum

Mr. Meraji O.Y. Msuya
Executive Director
Nile-SECRETARIAT
Hilton Hotel
Khartoum
Tel. 249-(0)11-774100