Vice President of the Republic of Burundi Hon. Prosper Bazombanza with Hon. Sam Cheptoris, Nile COM Chair launching the Nile River Basin Management Plan (BMP)

The Nile River Basin Investment Program (NR-BIP) is a high-visibility flagship regional program of jointly identified transformative investment projects that are aimed at driving climate-resilient socio-economic development of the Nile River Basin while reversing environmental degradation within its watershed.
The NR-BIP (Nile River Basin Investment Program) is a response to the directive from the 2017 Summit of Heads of State and Government (HoSG), which directed the NBI to facilitate the preparation of investment projects that support Nile riparian countries to drive and attain socio-economic development while reversing environmental degradation in the basin. 

The NR-BIP was jointly prepared by the Regional Economic Commissions (RECs) and Lake/River Basin Organizations (L/RBOs) operating within the Nile River Basin. The participating regional organisations in the NR-BIP are the African Union Development Agency – New Partnership for African Development (AUDA-NEPAD); Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and its specialized institution-the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP); East African Community (EAC) and its specialized institution, the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC); Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI). The Nile River Basin Investment Program provides a means for identifying, prioritizing, marketing, mobilizing resources for coordinating implementation, monitoring and evaluating investment projects drawn from multiple sectors and sources, including the countries, RECs, L/RBOs and other actors in the Nile Basin.

The NR-BIP areas of investments include (i) Water Security and Climate Resilient Water Resources Management; (ii) Food Security and Agricultural Water Management; and (iii) Energy Security, Regional Power Trade, Hydropower Generation, Other Renewable Energy Sources. The African Development Bank is targeted to lead the efforts to mobilize investment financing for the program in partnership with AUDA-NEPAD. The Virtual PIDA Information Centre (VPIC) with the African Infrastructure Database (AID) is the tool that will be used in the monitoring and evaluation of the NR-BIP and dissemination of information of the projects portfolio. The African Infrastructure Database (AID) is a tool for collection, compilation, validation, storage and sharing of infrastructure project information in Africa while the Virtual PIDA Information Centre (VPIC) is a web portal for disseminating information on the PIDA Program, including project profiles from the AID.

From January to July 2024, one regional and four institutional-level AUDA-NEPAD AID tools trainings, one core task team meeting, two consultative task team meetings, and 2nd EAPP mission were held. The NR-BIP project and program implementation document was prepared, the NR-BIP long list project portfolio was compiled, and criteria for screening and prioritization of projects were developed and revised at the core task team and task team level. For all regional organizations, the institutional level and NRBIP dashboard are created and are maintained on the AUDA-NEPAD AID Tool.