ADDIS ABABA — The River Nile plays an integral part in achieving not only water security but also food and energy security as well as in eradicating poverty for the people of the Nile Basin region, Nile Basin Initiative said.
In a press release issued on 20 Feb 2019, the Nile Basin region is undergoing rapid social, political, economic and environmental transformations. The Basin is facing a multitude of shared challenges which span across borders where food and energy are dependent on water.
According to the press release, the water variability keeps increasing, and climate change is expected to increase the risks. Thus, this reality can no longer be ignored, the report highlights that, Nile Basin countries must act together in order to adequately respond to these challenges and takes advantage of the opportunities.
Yesterday in KIGALI, Rwanda, the Nile Basin Initiative marked 20 years of promoting cooperation on the River Nile since it was established to provide a platform for Nile Basin countries to work jointly in using and taking care of the shared water resources of the River Nile efficiently.
As to the press release, a Representative of Rwanda’s Minister of Environment, Francois Tetero said the 20th anniversary is a major milestone and offers an opportunity to reflect on the successes and challenges of the last 20 years of Nile cooperation.
“The Nile Council of Ministers (Nile-COM) recognised that River Nile plays an integral part in achieving not only water security but also food and energy security as well as eradicating poverty for the people of the Nile Basin region.”
The Nile waters are crucial to achieving the regional development agenda and enabling regional integration, he explained.
According to the Minister, the last 20 years is a time for NBI to celebrate commendable achievements: At least 84 joint investment projects with an accumulated investment volume of USD 6.5 billion have been prepared.
“These projects, like the Nile itself, span across national borders and play an integral part in achieving not only water security, but also food and energy security as well as eradicating poverty in the Nile Basin,” said Minister Tetero.
“Through capacity building, generation of policies and knowledge, the NBI supports the countries and people of the Nile Basin to better manage their shared water resources. To date, 30,000 people have benefited from capacity building activities through the NBI while 10,000 Knowledge products produced and 16 strategies that provide policy directions for Member States on transboundary aspects have been developed,” he added.
Executive Director of the NBI, Eng. Innocent Ntabana on his part said: “By declaring 2019 as the Year of the Nile Basin, countries want to draw attention to the fact that all developments in the basin are linked to our shared waters. This is why we must put water at the heart of regional transformation.”
It was learned that the Nile Basin Initiative is the only basin-wide institution providing a neutral platform to the 10 Member States, to discuss how to jointly take care of and utilise the shared Nile Basin water resources for the benefit of all and to address the common challenges such as food, water and energy security as well as the negative impacts of climate change, which no country can tackle alone.
The Ethiopian Herald February 23/2019
BY ZELALEM GIRMA
What should be the focus of the reform on government projects?
The current progress in Ethiopia’s infrastructure and development projects threatened by a towering set of challenges, delayed performances and unpaid loan costs, are seeking aggressive development reforms to address the increasing strategic importance in the economic sector, Experts opine.
Approached by The Ethiopian Herald, Public Relation Director with the Ministry of Finance Haji Ibsa says that almost 1,000 development projects launched across the country have been postponed from one to seven years and expended additional 43.1 billion cost overruns.
According to the Director, the delay in projects has urged the country to allocate unnecessary budget, which often causes for bad governance. Of the total 346.9 billion Birr fiscal budget, the country has allocated 113 billion birr, 32 per cent, for development projects, he discloses.
The Director also says almost all the country’s loan is run for such projects; hence, the delay in projects leads for extra debt and affects the national economy. The country’s external debt exceeds 26.7 billion USD, which makes Ethiopia among the high risk countries with the largest debt since late 2018, Haji noted.
Approached by The Ethiopian Herald, Tilaye Kassahun (PhD), Associate Professor with St. Mary University and PR in International Consultancy and Research Service General Manager says that Ethiopia is known as a center of development projects at this time.
With its vision of becoming middle income country, Ethiopia is facilitating the path towards industrialization investing more on mega development projects such as industrial parks, sugar projects, power generating plants, and road infrastructures among others, he adds.
Although the country is aspiringly investing on the construction of such mega projects, but the delay becomes a major problem to hasten other development efforts.
According to Dr. Tilaye, to make the projects successful, they have to be completed as per the schedule, with the primarily allocated budget, and must fulfill the desired quality & standard.
For him, if a project fails to meet these criteria, it is a failed project. In fact, Ethiopian projects have usually faced these problems due to lack of comprehensive feasibility study and continuous follow-up with accountability, Dr. Tilaye indicates.
The scholar noted that a project differs from other programs and operational activities by its clearly
BY DARGIE KAHSAY
