NBI focuses on multi-country, multi-sectoral program of collaborative action, exchange of experience, 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 Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development. NBI is developing knowledge based and essential tools for integrated water resource management through capacity building in each Nile Basin Countries.
The actions taken have led to informed decisions for sustainable water resource planning and management in the basin. The initiation of Nile Basin Decision Support System (DSS) for date sharing among countries on river hydrology to better understand river system behaviour, evaluate alternative development and management schemes has facilitate knowledge integration thus facilitating decision making. 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 Management Plan.
NBI has strong donor support from giant institutions like the World Bank, GEF, GTZ, ADB and CIDA for implementing its projects. It has a framework for following up its projects through consolidated annual and quarterly interim financial reports. NBI promotes regional cooperation important for increasing a range of direct benefits to riparian states which include electricity production, environmental conservation and watershed protection. The NBI has set up governance, institutional structures and processes to provide permanent mechanisms for constructive dialogue, planning and development among riparians, focused on the sharing of water and water’s benefits.
The Nile basin Initiative represents the most comprehensive and complex management plan ever attempted for sustainable development of international 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 Millennium Development Goals.
Nevertheless, the NBI is not immune from the challenges, weaknesses, and threats as it can be cleared noticed in the SWOT analysis. The NBI should capitalize on its strengths and opportunities to work out the challenges it faces.