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8
Chinese Journal of Population, Resources and Environment Vol.8 No.1 March 2010
SWOT Analysis and Challenges of Nile Basin Initiative: An Integrated
Water Resource Management Perspective
Alebel Abebe Belay, Henry Musoke Semakula, George James Wambura, Labohy Jan
Virje University, Brussels 1090, Belgium
Key words: river basin management, Nile Basin Initiative, SWOT
analysis, integrated water management, River Nile
1 Introduction
It is on record that River Nile is one of the world’s lon-
gest transboundary rivers flowing a distance of more
than 6700 kilometres from its farthest source at the head-
waters of the Kagera Basin in Rwanda and Burundi to the
Mediterranean Sea in Egypt. Its catchment basin covers
approximately 10% of the African continent and the river
is shared by 10 riparian countries which include Burundi,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea,
Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
The Basin contains an extraordinarily rich and varied
range of ecosystems, with mountains, tropical forests,
woodlands, savannas, high and low altitude wetlands, arid
lands and deserts (World Bank, 2008). Since the Nile wa-
ters do not stop at administrative or political boundaries,
the river basin has been of great importance as regards hu-
man settlement, development of a rich diversity of cultures,
civilisation and development for centuries. As of today, the
Nile is a crucial resource for the economic development of
the Nile Basin countries and a vital source of livelihood for
160 million inhabitants as well as 300 million people living
in the ten riparian countries (World Bank, 2008). It is esti-
mated that in the next 25 years, the population in the Nile
basin will be 600 million.
Nevertheless, for decades, the Nile Basin people have
been facing many complex environmental, social, eco-
nomic and political challenges that have made it difcult
for the proper management and sustainability of Nile
water. Such problems include among others, disputes
and conicts over the control and use of the Nile waters;
extreme poverty, food insecurity; droughts; oods; envi-
ronmental degradation exacerbated by high population
Abstract: River Nile is one of the longest transboundery rivers
and it is shared and used by Burundi, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tan-
zania and Uganda. As of today, the Nile is a crucial resource for
the economic development of the Nile Basin countries and a vital
source of livelihood for 160 million inhabitants as well as 300
million people living in the 10 riparian countries. The Nile Basin
Initiative (NBI) is one of the international cooperative river basin
management program and regional partnership where all the Nile
Basin countries except Eritrea unite to pursue long-term sustain-
able development, improved land use practices and management.
This review therefore focused on the challenges not faced on NBI
in terms of integrated use of the river and conducted analysis of
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) based
on secondary data. The result of the review revealed that for
decades, the Nile Basin people have been facing many complex
environmental, social, economic and political challenges that have
made it difcult for the proper management and sustainability of
Nile water. The initiative provides training to develop skills in
government ministries, non-governmental organizations and local
communities in each country. It is also working to raise aware-
ness of critical environmental issues by strengthening networks
of environmental education practitioners; developing curriculum
in the education sector. The challenges of NBI include the in-
volvement and funding of World Bank, lack of sufficient staff,
procedural and policies conicts, lack of coordination and linkage
with other regional institutions and lack of recognition as river
basin organization. Considering the complex nature of the project,
it is recommended that the NBI should come up with a strong
multi-disciplinary monitoring and evaluation team to follow up
all implemented projects. The NBI should carry out participatory
land use planning in communities along the river basin. Moreover,
livelihood analysis should be carried out especially in communi-
ties along the Nile to come up with poverty eradication projects
which are socially acceptable, applicable, economically viable
and affordable.
此间距15mm
此间距上下7mm
Received 15 December 2009; Accepted 25 December 2009
Corresponding author: Alebel Abebe Belay (abelay@vub.ac.be)
2—belay(8-17).indd 8 2010-3-19 17:46:05
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Chinese Journal of Population, Resources and Environment Vol.8 No.1 March 2010
growth; inadequate sanitary services; unreliable electric-
ity, water scarcity; lack of cooperation on the shared re-
sources of the Nile Basin (World Bank, 2008; World Bank,
2003a). The transboundary nature of the river also possess
extra challenges.
Consequently, the Nile Basin countries jointly recog-
nized that the best way to utilize, protect and manage the
Nile Basin in an integrated sustainable way was through a
close international co-operation between and among all the
countries within the natural, geographical and hydrologi-
cal unit of the river, whereby all interests of upstream and
downstream countries are considered. However, this coop-
erative management of the Nile River Basin is one of the
greatest challenges of the global international water agenda
(World Bank, 2003a; World Bank, 2004a). Nevertheless, it
is an important catalyst for greater regional, economic, po-
litical, knowledge integrations with benets far exceeding
those derived from the river itself.
2 Strategy for management of the Nile River with
reference to the Nile Basin Initiative
The recognition of the cooperative management of the
Nile by the Nile Basin countries has given birth to the
Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) which reects various aspects
of integrated water resource management. The NBI is
one of the recent international historic cooperative river
basin management programs and regional partnership
where all the Nile Basin States except Eritrea unite to
pursue long-term sustainable development, improve land
use practices and management of the Nile water resourc-
es for the benefit of all without discrimination (World
Bank, 2008).
The history of the NBI dates back to 1992 when the
Council of Ministers of Water Affairs of the Nile Basin
countries recognized the need for regional cooperation
and integration for regional growth, environmental con-
servation and the equitable sustainable development of
the entire Nile Basin (Guvele, 2003). In that political at-
mosphere, the Technical Cooperation Committee for the
Promotion of Development and Environmental Protection
of the Nile Basin was formed which later created the Nile
River Basin Action Plan in 1995 (ibid). In this Action
Plan, the need to establish a Nile River Basin Cooperative
Framework was at its centre stage and fortunately, this
partially materialized in 1999 when the “transitional” NBI
was launched.
2.1 State of planning and implementation
Recognizing their common concerns and interests, the
NBI embarked with a participatory process of dialogue
among the Nile Basin countries that fashioned a shared
vision “to achieve sustainable socioeconomic develop-
ment through the equitable utilization of, and benefit
from, the common Nile Basin water resources” (World
Bank, 2008). The policy guideline which accompanies the
agreed joint shared vision provides a basin-wide coop-
erative water resource management framework and also
denes the primary objectives of NBI. These objectives
include:
1) to develop the water resources of the Nile Basin in a
sustainable and equitable way
2) to ensure prosperity, security, and peace for all its
peoples;
3) to ensure efcient water management and the optimal
use of the resources;
4) to ensure cooperation and joint action among the ri-
parian countries, seeking win-win gains;
5) to target poverty eradication and promote economic
integration; and
6) to ensure that the program results move from planning
to action.
In order to implement and achieve the NBI objectives
as well as translating the agreed shared vision into action
and fostering co-operative development on the Nile, the
riparian governments developed a Strategic Action Program
composed of two complementary sub-programs which in-
clude Shared Vision Program (SVP) and Subsidiary Action
Programs (SAPs) (World Bank, 2008; World Bank, 2003a).
As of today, the NBI with its Strategic Action Program rep-
resents a deep commitment by the Nile riparian countries
to foster cooperation, regional integration and sustainable
development of the Nile River. It is composed of the Coun-
cil of Ministers of Water of the member countries, and a
Technical Advisory Committee, comprising technical repre-
sentatives from the member countries.
However, the NBIs’ Strategic Action Program is a great-
est fundamental turning point and landmark towards in-
tegrated water resource management of the Nile River. In
its whole, the Strategic Action Program is trying to create
a knowledge base and essential tools for integrated water
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Chinese Journal of Population, Resources and Environment Vol.8 No.1 March 2010
poverty per se has nothing to do with environmental prob-
lems but it is the underlying mechanism that causes poverty
which possess a big threat to the environment. The project
also ignores the issues of climate change which is arousing
serious threats to African continent.
Nevertheless, the Transboundary Environmental Ac-
tion Project with its management unit located in Khar-
toum, Sudan was implemented in 2004. As of today,
various stakeholders are involved in the project and are
greatly supported by the project. The project provides
training to develop skills in government ministries, non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) and local com-
munities in each country in such areas as environmental
management and monitoring, water quality monitoring,
and conservation of wetlands (World Bank, 2003b; World
Bank, 2008). It is also working to raise awareness of
critical environmental issues by strengthening networks
of environmental education practitioners; developing cur-
riculum for primary, secondary and university students;
and supporting environmental awareness campaigns
through nature clubs, schools, youth groups, scout troops,
universities, churches and mosques (World Bank, 2003b;
World Bank, 2008).
The project also promotes information sharing about is-
sues affecting the environment among all stakeholders in
the Nile Basin countries, including developing a decision-
support system that is based on reliable and consistent en-
vironmental data from each country to enable better region-
wide environmental planning and management (World
Bank, 2003b; World Babk, 2008). The project also funds
local NGOs and communities to promote community-based
approaches to land and water conservation to reduce soil
erosion, desertication, and pollution and to control inva-
sive waterweeds.
The activities of this project on the one hand reect an
effort of spatial, landscape and territorial integration all of
which geared to protect and manage the environment as
well as the delicate ecosystem of the Nile River Basin. On
the other hand, through these activities, the Nile Basin gov-
ernments, NGOs, researchers, educators and private sector
representatives can acquire integrated knowledge that could
help them to work together both within their own countries
and across borders. This is fundamental in building mutual
understanding, solid relationships and collaborative partner-
ships that are essential building blocks for regional coopera-
resource management through regional, economic, spatial
sectoral and knowledge integration.
3 Analysis of the NBI’s Strategic Action Programs
As already mentioned, the Strategic Action Program is
composed of two components which include the SAPs hav-
ing two branches one called the Eastern Nile Subsidiary Ac-
tion Program (ENSAP) and the other called the Nile Equa-
torial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program (NELSAP). The
second component of Strategic Action Program is the SVPs
and is funded by the World Bank, African Development
Bank, Global Environmental Facility and Nile Basin Trust
Fund, United Nations Development Program, the German
Agency for Technical Cooperation, Canadian International
Development Agency (World Bank, 2003a; World Bank,
2004a; World Bank, 2008).
The analysis begins with SVPs which form the core of
the NBI. It includes seven thematic projects as discussed
and analysed below.
3.1 Nile Transboundary Environmental Action Project
This project came into existence after the Nile Basin
countries carried out a participatory Nile Basin Transbound-
ary Environmental Analysis that identied various environ-
mental concerns related to water resources (World Bank,
2003b). The environmental concerns identified included
deforestation leading to losses of biologically important
habitats, high rates of soil erosion leading to sedimentation
of rivers, lakes and reservoirs; localized water pollution
arising from agriculture, industry, mining and domestic ef-
fluent; proliferation of aquatic weeds, particularly water
hyacinth and wetland reclamation (World Bank, 2003b).
However, some of these problems like deforestation and
erosion are just symptoms of big underlying root causes
like poor government developmental policies, which the
program never identied.
Poverty and population growth were also singled out
to cause additional pressures on natural resources and this
has been compounded by a lack of awareness of land–wa-
ter interactions and the functioning of critical ecosystems.
However, this project does not capture how the consump-
tion patterns of the high population are leading to environ-
mental problems and how poverty actually causes pressures
on natural resources quantitatively. It should be noted that
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Chinese Journal of Population, Resources and Environment Vol.8 No.1 March 2010
tion, sustainable development, environmental conservation
and broader regional integration.
3.2 Water Resources Planning and Management Project
This project is working to address problems of water
management fragmentation within each Nile basin country,
weak human and institutional capacity to manage the Nile
waters in an integrated manner, uneven distribution of wa-
ter professionals within the basin as well as the inadequate
interaction among water professionals in the Nile Basin
countries (World Bank, 2004b). The stakeholders involved
in this project include government agencies in water-related
sectors, civil society, NGOs, university networks, profes-
sionals in the field and the private sector. In order to ad-
dress these problems, the project is supporting basin-wide
dialogue on good practice in water policy formulation and
implementation.
To achieve sectoral integration as re gar ds reso urc e
management in the Nile Basin countries, the project is
building skills in each country for effective formulation
and implementation of successive national policies and
strategies for integrated water resources management as
well as planning and management of multi-country proj-
ects. The project has also come up with Nile Basin Deci-
sion Support System where NBI countries will be able to
share data on river hydrology to better understand river
system behaviour, evaluate alternative development and
management schemes (World Bank, 2004b). This will
facilitate knowledge integration which is important for
making more informed decisions for sustainable water
resource planning and management in the basin. However,
this project is aiming at building a common technical
foundation rather than a common local socio-cultural and
environmental knowledge base or both for facilitating
integrated water resource planning and management from
basin-wide perspective. In that regard, the project’s focus
represents a biased and typical top-down approach for in-
tegrated water resource management which do not create
a levelled ground for integrated and sustainable manage-
ment of the river.
3.3 Social Economic Development and Benet Sharing
Project
To address the complexity and variability of the river
basin’s hydrology as well as the differences of Nile Basin
countries’ economies, the Social Economic Development
and Benet Sharing Project is aiming at an integrated ap-
proach to water resources management, environmental con-
servation and regional development (World Bank, 2004a).
This is a fundamental building block for integrated natural
recourse management since the project focuses on knowl-
edge integration as well as economic integration for sus-
tainable management of the basin. In that regard, the project
is currently building a multidisciplinary network of profes-
sionals (stakeholders) from economic planning, research
institutions, technical experts from public and private sec-
tors, academics, and representatives from civic groups and
NGOs from across the basin (ibid). The multidisciplinary
network creation is a vital tool for solving complex envi-
ronmental problems since it provides a broader platform to
exchange views and solutions than a disciplinary network
which provides no platform for exchange of knowledge
thus leading to narrow views and solutions or no solutions
at all.
Under this project, the multidisciplinary networks of
professional are required to carry out joint research, explore
alternative Nile development scenarios, identify benefit-
sharing schemes, foster information sharing and exchange,
as well as enhancing public awareness of the importance
of water as a shared and precious resource. However, the
project is only building capacity to explore alternative new
development scenarios without much consideration on how
the old development projects in the Nile Basin countries
could be made more environmentally friendly. Again, as
with other projects, the issue of local participation is still
scanty in this project and the criteria for selecting profes-
sionals to form a multidisciplinary network as well as shar-
ing benets are not well dened.
3.4 Condence-Building and Stakeholder Involvement
Project
This project was created to address issues of disputes,
conflicts, political tension and lack of cooperation in
the management of the Nile basin resou rces and aims
at building confidence, trust, collaborative relationships
among everyone who has a stake in how water resources
in their countries are developed, allocated and managed
(World Bank, 2003c). This is an important mechanism for
constructive dialogue, planning and development and this
can provide a benchmark for hierarchical integration from
local, national, regional and international levels which is
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Chinese Journal of Population, Resources and Environment Vol.8 No.1 March 2010
vital for the sustainable management of the Nile waters.
The project is promoting broad-based stakeholder par-
ticipation including dialogue, collective analysis, action,
and monitoring for feedback and learning (World Bank,
2003c).
However, the extent to which stakeholders should be
involved in the project, their roles and interests is not well
defined. The project also has a public information com-
ponent. This is geared towards increasing public aware-
ness by providing accurate, timely, and understandable
information about the NBI and its programs to people
across the basin in languages and formats they understand
through a variety of culturally appropriate channels (World
Bank, 2003c). Such information dissemination creates a
clear picture of the benefits of regional cooperation and
integration among the inhabitants of the Nile Basin. As
regard building condence, trust and collaboration among
countries, the project has various programs that encourage
exchanges among parliamentarians, journalists, univer-
sity professors, local leaders (including women leaders),
schoolchildren and university students. The project also
has activities that focus on forums and networks geared
to discuss issues of poverty reduction and development
among others (World Bank, 2003c). This is an important
component of knowledge integration where various people
are facilitated to share their views, experiences with others
and this creates a sense of ownership of the projects being
run by the NBI.
3.5 Nile Basin Regional Power Trade Project
This project is the first basin-wide effort to develop a
regional power trading architecture for the Nile through
the active participation of all basin countries. The project is
responding to unreliable electricity in basin which has hin-
dered economic growth and caused paramount environmen-
tal degradation. The project has come up with Nile Basin
Power Forum where national power experts can exchange
ideas on how to develop power supply facilities and ways
of how to expand power trade in the Nile Basin (World
Bank, 2005a). This reects an emerging technical integra-
tion in the Nile Basin.
The creation of a regional electricity market is intended
to play a key role in furthering cooperation among the basin
countries, providing sustainable environmentally friendly
energy and in ensuring that the hydropower resources of
the Nile Basin are developed and managed in an integrated
and sustainable manner (World Bank, 2005a). In a long run,
this project will create far reaching benets as regards wa-
ter conservation, land protection, and reduced emission of
greenhouse gases. However, this project does not put into
consideration other cheap power sources like, solar energy,
wind energy, biogas and methane from wetlands which
could be used by the people who can not afford electricity.
If such energy potentials were recognized, it would have
created an important aspect of integrated energy produc-
tion.
3.6 Applied Training Project
This project is working to build capacity needed to
promote integrated water resource management in the
Nile Basin (World Bank, 2003d). This is done under vari-
ous components. The rst component deals with training
decision makers and professionals in water resources
management in the basin countries in aspects of water
management policy at national level (World Bank, 2003d).
The second component deals with offering post-graduate
scholarships to applicants from the Nile Basin countries
so as to undertake both master and doctorial training in
water resource management. This is geared to build within
each country a cadre of water resources management spe-
cialists able to reduce barriers for sectoral integration in
natural resource management. As part of the effort to pro-
mote interaction and knowledge integration among water
professionals in the NBI countries, the third component of
the project deals with establishing the Nile Net, which is a
network of training institutions that can engage in collab-
orative research, joint problem-solving and staff exchang-
es (World Bank, 2003d). This project will lead in the long-
run to the introduction of common basin-wide guidelines
and standards for Integrated Water Resource Management
principles. However, the desire for integrated water re-
source management in the Nile Basin is too skewed to
scientific approach where people are trained in various
scientic methods only without having a dose of what lo-
cal water resource management practices and systems can
offer.
3.7 Efcient Use of Water for Agriculture Project
Due to the great importance of agriculture in the Nile
Basin, this project is aiming at providing a sound concep-
tual and practical basis to increase the availability and ef-
cient use of water for agricultural production. The project
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Chinese Journal of Population, Resources and Environment Vol.8 No.1 March 2010
is creating a framework that will enable stakeholders from
the Nile Basin countries to work together to promote basin-
wide cooperation and awareness, enhance understanding
and build capacity on the common irrigation and water
harvesting issues (World Bank, 2005b). This is hoped to
be achieved through basin-wide consultations, workshops,
and seminars that will create networks of key actors who
will collectively work together on water harvesting, com-
munity managed irrigation, and public and private-managed
irrigation (World Bank, 2005b). This reects an aspect of
knowledge integration where every stakeholder’s views are
recognized as important for efcient use of water for agri-
culture.
In parallel with the Shared Vision Programs, two Sub-
sidiary Action Program (NELSAP and ENSAP) have been
set up. As with the SVPs, institutional strengthening and
capacity building which is an important aspect of hierar-
chical, sectoral and knowledge integration has also been
provided to the two implementing institutions, Eastern
Nile Technical Regional Ofce (ENTRO) and Nile Equa-
torial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program Coordination
Unit (NELSAP-CU). Under the SAPs, great achieve-
ments have been realized. For example, in the Eastern
Nile, Sub-regional Flood Preparedness and Early Warning
Project, irrigation developments in Ethiopia and Egypt,
and a Power Interconnection Project between Ethiopia
and its neighbouring countries have been realized (World
Bank, 2008). In the Equatorial Lakes region, Rusumo
Falls Hydroelectric and Multipurpose Project have been
constructed as well as the establishment of the Agricul-
ture and Trade Project (World Bank, 2008). These SAPs
provide a strong foundation for the Nile Basin countries
to engage in concrete activities for long-term sustainable
development, integrated water resource management, nat-
ural resource conservation, economic growth and regional
integration.
4 Challenges facing the NBI
4.1 World Bank participation
Despite a remarkable progress attained by NBI, it is
feared that the initiative has little hope of achieving its
goals in large part because of the World Bank’s involvement
and funding. It is on record that the World Bank and Inter-
national Monetary Fund have played a single role in the
impoverishment of the African continent (Foulds, 2002). It
has been noted that because of World Bank’s policies, half
of its projects have been unsuccessful and the failure rate is
even higher in the poorest countries (Foulds, 2002). There-
fore, considering the fact that six of the world’s 10 poorest
countries are within the Nile Basin, the World Bank-NBI
“inter-marriage” presents a doubtful scenario of achieving
the initiative’s objectives.
4.2 Nile Basin Water Treaty of 1929
Although the NBI tries to bring together all the Nile Ba-
sin countries to cooperate in the sustainable management of
the Nile River, the 1929 Nile Basin Treaty still holds a lot of
water. It is not yet known whether the NBI is done in good
faith or as pretence to appease the international community
especially the donors. It should be noted that the 79-year-
old water sharing treaty has kept Nile Basin countries into
vigorous conict over the region’s most precious resource
(Tvedt, 2004). It regulates Nile water usage among the 10
countries that share the Nile River’s watershed but giving
much power to the Egyptians. In this sensitive political cli-
mate, any country in the Nile Basin which wishes to utilize
the Nile water, has to seek permission from the Egypt. For
example, the treaty requires Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda
which are at the source of the Nile to seek permission from
Cairo, 6000 kilometres away, before drawing water from
Lake Victoria to cultivate their parched elds, yet the NBI
advocates for all Nile Basin countries to be equal partners.
This means that the NBI is in serious “hidden” contradic-
tion with the 1929 Nile Basin Treaty and if this issue is not
handled diplomatically, Nile water wars are abound to oc-
cur in the future.
4.3 Lack of sufficient staff for carrying out important
activities
The NB I’s ambiti ous goal of establishing regio nal
cooperation and mutually benecial relationships among
all Nile Basin countries is limited by the small number of
staff. The current staff at the NBI cannot respond to the
increasing and emerging demands placed on the institution
such as strategic planning, resource mobilization or re-
sponding to basin management issues like climate changes
(World Bank, 2008). In additional to that, the NBI lacks
the capacity to handle regional database as well as analys-
ing water resource information (ibid). Nevertheless, it is
assumed that under the Institutional Strengthening Project
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Chinese Journal of Population, Resources and Environment Vol.8 No.1 March 2010
(NBI-ISP), NBI will be equipped with a more robust insti-
tutional infrastructure and critical skills needed to deliver
its current work program more effectively (World Bank,
2008).
4.4 Procedural and policies conicts
The SAP aim of creating the ENTRO in Ethiopia
and NELSAP-CU in Rwanda has led to the emergence
of procedural and policy conflict between the programs
and other NBI Institutions (World Bank, 2008). This is
because these programs have evolved independently of
each other resulting into differing sets of policies and pro-
cedures and this has been due to the political differences
between Rwanda and Ethiopia. This situation is thought to
threaten future operation integrity of the NBI. However, it
is thought that the NBI-ISP will enhance basin-wide insti-
tutional integration through a harmonization of NBI poli-
cies and procedures across the basin (World Bank, 2008).
In additional, the NBI-ISP is mandated to strengthen and
harmonize administrative systems and functions across all
NBI institutions.
4.5 Lack of coordination and linkage with other region-
al institutions
With the establishment of the NBI, other regional
institutions have evolved like Lake Victoria Basin Com-
missions but NBI’s coordination with such institutions is
not clearly established. However, it is hoped that NBI-ISP
will strengthen the Nile National Focal Point Ofces and
NBI regional linkages with other institutions and stake-
holders.
4.6 NBI is not recognized river basin organisation
As early noted, the NBI is just a “transitional institution”
binding together the Nile Basin countries to move forward
into a Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) which
would create a permanent river basin organization (RBO).
However, negotiations on the proposed CFA are well ad-
vanced but not yet concluded (World Bank, 2008).
5 Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats (SWOT) analysis of the NBI
This section adapts a SWOT analysis technique to sum-
marize the nitty gritty of the NBI. The criterion for evalua-
tion is based on the framework concept of integrated water
resource management. The perspective we have adopted is
the sustainable development of the water of the Nile for the
benet of all.
5.1 Strengths
● NBI focuses on multi-country, multi-sectoral pro-
grams of collaborative actions, exchange of experi-
ence, and trust and capacity building designed to
build a strong foundation for regional cooperation
and sustainable management of the Nile water.
● NBI is intrinsically geared towards achieving the
Millenium Development Goals and Sustainable De-
velopment.
● NBI is developing knowledge based and essential
tools for integrated water resource management
through capacity building in each Nile Basin coun-
try.
● It has led to the development of the decision-support
system for information sharing.
● NBI aims at building confidence, trust, collabora-
tive relationships among everyone who has a stake
in how water resources in their countries are devel-
oped, allocated, managed and stakeholder involve-
ment.
● The project is promoting broad-based stakeholder
participation, including dialogue, collective analysis,
action and monitoring for feedback and learning.
● NBI has managed to create a strong stakeholder
commitment and ownership of its projects among all
member countries by creating project management
location units in each country.
● NBI has Strategy for Addressing Environmental and
Social Safeguards through an Environmental Man-
agement Plan.
● NBI has strong donor support from giant institu-
tions like the World Bank, Global Environmental
Facility, German Agency for Technical Coopera-
tion, African Development Bank and Canadian In-
ternational Development Agency for implementing
its projects.
● It has a framework for following up its projects
through consolidated annual and quarterly interim
nancial reports.
● NBI promotes regional cooperation important for
increasing a range of direct benefits to riparian
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Chinese Journal of Population, Resources and Environment Vol.8 No.1 March 2010
countries which include electricity production,
environmental conservation and Water shed protec-
tion.
● The NBI has set up governance, institutional struc-
tures and processes to provide permanent mecha-
nisms for constructive dialogue, planning and devel-
opment among riparians, focused on the sharing of
water and water’s benets.
5.2 Weakness
● Lack of institutional depth like thin stafng which is
insufcient to respond to the increasing and emerg-
ing demands placed on the institution in the area
of strategic planning, resource mobilization, or re-
sponding to basin management issues.
● Inadequate capacity to develop regional databases
and to analyze water resource information.
● There is a lack of coordination and linkages with
some NBI stakeholders like the Lake Victoria Basin
Commission.
● The planning of NBI projects did not incorporate the
local knowledge of the indigenous people in the Nile
Basin countries.
● Despite the fact that the NBI is trying to develop
and generate hydroelectric power along the Nile
for the benefit of all people, the initiative is not
part and partial of the World Commission on Dams
which provides comprehensive guidelines for con-
structing dams on international transboundary riv-
ers.
● Theoretically, NBI is bottom up but practically, is
strongly top-down.
● NBI is the most complex and ambitious river basin
project ever and this may result into misinterpreta-
tions and wrong analysis of the whole project.
5.3 Opportunities
● Continued support of the World Bank to the NBI
projects present “hope” for achieving the NBI
goals in future. Furthermore, nancial and in kind
contribution of member will help sustain NBI
functions.
● Establishment of NBI-ISP is hoped to provide solu-
tions to the challenges facing the NBI. For example,
it will allow the NBI to undertake an institutional
design processes to prepare the NBI for new chal-
lenges in absence or presence of CFA.
● Finalizing a CFA will help create a permanent RBO.
● More involvement of NGOs and civil society will
involve the overall effectiveness and efficiency of
the implementation of the NBI projects.
● Since the Nile Basin countries are part of the African
Union, NBI project has an opportunity of beneting
from the New Partnership for Africa’s Development
(NEPAD) which aims at providing an overarching
vision and policy framework for accelerating eco-
nomic co-operation and integration among African
countries.
5.4 Threats
● Long-term challenges for operational integration
across the basin because of different sets of policies
and procedures among NBI institutions like ENTRO
and NELSAP-CU.
● Nile Basin Water Treaty of 1929, which limits effec-
tive utilization of the Nile-waters.
● History of tensions and instability in the region, both
between countries and within countries. Thus, when
one country refuses to cooperate, it can have signi-
cant consequences on the NBI goals.
● Increasing population coupled with poverty creates
pressure on resources of the Nile.
● NBI countries are in different development stages
with six out of the poorest 10 nations of the world
and this threatens the initiative’s path towards
achieving its goals.
● If the CFA negotiations geared to transform the NBI
into a fully-edged RBO ops, the future status of
the transitional NBI will be undened.
● The World Bank polices possess future uncertainty
of the NBI projects due to its historical bad record in
achieving its goals in the countries under its funds.
● Corruption and aid money disappearing into private
pockets can ruin all the planning.
● Climate change and water stress can force govern-
ments to act individually trying to exploit as much
as possible for their people.
6 Conclusions and recommendations
In this article, we conclude that the NBI repres ents
the most comprehensive and complex management plan
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Chinese Journal of Population, Resources and Environment Vol.8 No.1 March 2010
ever attempted for sustainable development of interna-
tional transboundary rivers. The NBI tries to deal with
all potential problems occurring at people-environment
and development interface in the Nile basin through a
multi-disciplinary, socio-cultural, economic, political and
geographical environment which is an important attribute
of achieving sustainable development as well as the Mil-
lennium Development Goals. On the same note, we also
conclude that the various projects which are being imple-
mented by the NBI, reect a “joint commitment and obli-
gation” of the Nile Basin countries to put into action the
recommendations of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan
of Implementation.
We also conclude that NBI is a paramount historical
regional partnership in this new millennium as regards
transboundary river basin management. This joint venture
among the Nile Basin countries has created a “regional en-
vironmental-development interface think-tank” which is a
vital mechanism for paving way to greater integrated water
resource management that could result into mutual benet
of all without discrimination or favourism. This has been
done through spatial, regional, economic and knowledge
integrations.
Nevertheless, the NBI is not immune from the challeng-
es, weaknesses and threats as it can be clearly noticed in the
SWOT analysis. At this juncture, we recommend in general
terms that the NBI should capitalize on its strengths and
opportunities to work out the challenges it faces. However,
more specifically, we suggest the following recommenda-
tions.
The NBI should actively collaborate with the African
Union in general and NEPAD so as to get some support
and vibrant recognition. It should be noted that the goals of
NEPAD conquer well with those of the NBI. For example,
NEPAD’s goals which are threefold include promoting
accelerated growth and sustainable development, eradicat-
ing widespread and severe poverty, and halting the mar-
ginalisation of Africa in the globalisation process. These
goals translate very well with the shared Vision of the NBI,
therefore, the collaboration between the two initiatives
could have a vibrant platform for promoting sustainable
development in Africa in general, Nile Basin countries in
particular.
Having realized the deciency of local traditional knowl-
edge in the overall planning of the NBI, we recommend
that the initiative should consider incorporating issues of
indigenous knowledge which represent the long-standing
traditions and practices of the Nile. It should be noted that
the Nile basin has got a complex cultural diversity which
could be useful for integrated water resource management
in combination with the scientic approach being agitated
by the NBI.
To achieve mutual benefit of the Nile water resources,
we recommend that the NBI in conjunction with the inter-
national community should focus on serious amendment of
the 1929 colonial Nile water treaty which possess signi-
cant challenges for realization of the initiative’s goals.
Since one of the projects of NBI is to build power plants,
it can be feared that this project could have devastating im-
pacts on the environment and the nearby societies. There-
fore, we recommend that the NBI should be harmonized
within the World Commission on Dams so that it can adopt
proper guidelines for the construction of dams along the
Nile. This will be vital in protecting dam-affected people
and the environment, and to ensure that the benets from
dams are more equitably distributed.
Due to the fact that population pressure is one of the
driving forces leading to environmental degradation in the
Nile basin, we recommend that NBI should have a separate
project focusing on population control within the basin
countries.
To increase a sense of belonging, level of participation
and ownership of the NBI projects, we recommend that
“handouts” in terms of donations from the core funding
institutions should be limited. Therefore, the Nile Basin
countries should try to build the capacity for soliciting
their own funds for the NBI. This money could be got in-
ter alia by reducing public expenditure, and curbing cor-
ruptions.
Given the complex of the project, we recommend that
the NBI should come up with a strong multi-disciplinary
monitoring and evaluation team to follow up all implement-
ed projects. This team should be well equipped with mod-
ern techniques ranging from the geographical information
systems among others. We also recommend that the NBI
should carry participatory land use planning in communities
located near the river putting much consideration on land
capability and suitability.
NBI should also carry out a livelihood analysis espe-
cially in communities along the Nile so as to come up with
poverty eradication projects which are socially acceptable,
applicable, economically viable and affordable. These will
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Chinese Journal of Population, Resources and Environment Vol.8 No.1 March 2010
improve the welfare of the majority of the people at house-
hold level and this will act as an incentive towards sustain-
able utilization of the Nile basin resources.
Rather than building capacity in only scientific skills
with regards Nile water resource management, we also
recommend that the local knowledge base and management
skills of the same should also be upgraded so as to have a
strong foundation for integrated water resource manage-
ment.
Since the NBI promote efficient use of the Nile water
through proper irrigation methods, we recommend that the
NBI should take caution about the salinazation problems
that may arise thus leading to soil degradation and conse-
quently poor agricultural yields. In additional, NBI should
educate communities on how to use less agriculture inputs
especially nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers that can cause
water pollution (eutrophication).
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