Nile Basin signs for Euro 400k grant from French development agency

March 12, 2019 in Business by Editor

Ntabana and Yoka exchange documents

The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), will receive a Euro 400,000 grant from the French Agency for Development AFD to support capacity building activities within the NBI.

The grant agreement was signed March11 by NBI’s Executive Director, Eng. Innocent Ntabana and Mr. Christian Yoka, AFD’S Regional Director for Eastern Africa.

The grant will be disbursed through the Rhone Mediterranean Corsica Agency (AERMC), a river basin organisation in France which supports like-minded river basin organisations technically and financially.

“The Nile waters are a powerful lever for the socio-economic development of more than 300 million people today and the risk of climate change and population growth continues to present challenges to the sustainable use and management of these waters. In order to respond to rising challenges and demands, there is a need for greater cooperation and enhanced capacities in the field of water resource management,” Yoka said during signing ceremonies for the grant at the NBI Secretariat in Entebbe.

The 400,000 Euros grant follows a similar one million Euro grant in May 2015, which provided technical assistance for capacity building for both the Secretariat and its technical arm, the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program (NELSAP). Through this grant, NELSAP has been able to develop its Strategic Plan for 2017-2022 focusing on organisation development, investment finance mobilisation and financial autonomy, water resource management and dam safety regulation.

Speaking about the grant, Eng. Ntabana said “strengthening the structures of the NBI and their sustainability is crucial for the maintenance of this framework of concerted dialogue. The continuation of this cooperation is critical in a context where the pressure on natural resources may generate tensions between communities of the Nile neighbouring countries.”