Uganda launches multi-million-dollar Nile basin project

The Ugandan government has launched a 32.8 million U.S. dollar project for the sustainable management of the River Nile basin, local media reported on Monday.

Sowed Sewagudde, the water officer in the Lands and Water Ministry, announced the multi-million-dollar project while presenting a paper on the role of civil society in water resources planning and management.

"The project will, through a Shared Vision Project, ensure sustained development of the Nile waters that benefit ten countries," Sewagudde was quoted by the New Vision as saying.

The ten countries sharing the Nile basin are Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania.

Sewagudde said the fund has already been handed over to the Nile Basin Initiative, who would run the six-year project. The fund was jointly funded by Canada, Germany and the Asian Development Bank.

Sewagudde said the funds would be utilized in seven programs, including the programs on environment, power, trade and agriculture.

"If Uganda, for example, has enough power, it can sell it to Kenya and buy food from Kenya," he said, adding that the project had started in Ethiopia.

The aim of the Nile basin project is to ensure development and management of the water resource in an equitable, optimal, integrated and sustainable manner.

Source: Xinhua