East Africa: ADB Encourages Integrated Management of the Nile Basin

2 February 2005
African Development Bank (Abidjan)
press release

Tunis — The African Development Bank Group (ADB), supports the Eastern Nile countries to face the many challenges of the river Basin such as rapid population growth, drought and famine.

The ADB Vice-President for North, South and East operations, Mr. Theodore Nkodo and, Eastern Nile Technical Regional office (ENTRO)Interim Manager, Mr. Teferra Beyene, signed in Tunis a grant agreement relating to the Eastern Nile Irrigation and Drainage Study.

The Study would prepare guidelines for the selection of irrigation projects at the regional level; and assess the needs for institutional and legislative reform in the participating countries (Ethiopia and Sudan). Furthermore, the Study would propose a common agenda on irrigated agriculture development for the Eastern Nile countries.

This Study is part of the Nile Basin Initiative, which was established in 1999 by the ten Nile Riparian States to address poverty, environmental degradation and instability in the NileBasin while promoting socio-economic development.

The Bank Group has already approved several grants to finance projects and programmes of resources management in Eastern Nile region. With this study the Bank is granting an additional sum of UA* 1.75 million (US$ 2.66 million). Consequently, this grant brings the total volume of the Bank's support to the Nile Basin Initiative to UA 10.12 million (approximately US$ 15.72 million)

Mr. Teferra Beyene explained that the ADB study will address one of the most crucial challenges of the region : Food Security.

The Vice President Nkodo mentioned that the realization of the objectives of the Study will depend on the effective mobilization of the services of Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office (ENTRO) and national institutions related to the agriculture sector in Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.

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