Addis Ababa:  Nile Day Being Celebrated in Addis Ababa

East African countries are celebrating the Nile Day 2018, in Addis Ababa under the theme of “The Nile: Shared River, Collective Action.”

The day is a commemoration of the establishment of the unprecedented Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) on February 22, 1999.

At least 500 Nile Basin participants, including Nile Council Ministers (Nile-COM), representatives from NBI member countries and researchers are amongst the attendants.

“The day marked a major milestone in the history of Nile cooperation”, Ethiopia’s Minister of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, Dr. Seleshi Bekele, talked to journalists ahead of the celebration.

He noted that “it was the first time that the countries jointly agreed to establish an all-inclusive basin-wide institution, to provide a platform for consultation and coordination among riparian countries.”

NBI Secretariat Executive Director, Engineer Innocent Ntabana on his part said “to obtain the optimal utilization and ensure sustainability of the resource, Nile basin countries must act to collectively, balancing interests and focusing on common goals at basin level.”

The NileBasin Initiative (NBI) is an intergovernmental partnership of the 10 Nile Basin countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Egypt, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and DR Congo.

source ena