All Nile countries with the exception of Egypt and Kenya are categorised by UNDP to fall in the ‘low human development’ group of countries. Poverty remains a major human development challenge, with sizeable proportions of the population in the Nile riparian countries living below the poverty line. There is large disparity in income of the countries, with Gross National Income (GNI) ranging from below US$ 754 in Burundi, to over US$ 11,466 in Egypt (UNDP, 20201). Food insecurity continues to afflict the region. The level of food production in the basin is unable to cope with the increase in demand from expanding populations, leading to rising levels of undernourishment. About 87% of the cultivated land in the basin is under rainfed production systems, and is characterised by small holdings, low inputs and low productivity. Irrigated farming systems, which are mainly located in the downstream countries, are not very efficient in water use. There is very low irrigation development in headwater regions (NBI, 2020). The Nile region is well endowed with energy resources that include natural gas, oil, hydropower potential, geothermal energy, coal, peat, biomass, solar and wind. Despite the richness in energy sources, electricity supply in many Nile countries is inadequate, unreliable and expensive. About half of the 556 million people residing in the Nile Basin countries have no access to electricity and mostly rely on kerosene and biofuels (firewood, charcoal and agricultural and animal waste) as the source of energy. The region’s energy deficit is seriously stifling its economic growth and affecting job creation, agricultural transformation, and improvements in health, education and standards of living. Thermal plants are the dominant source of energy but hydropower is emerging as an increasingly important energy source in the region due to its renewable and pollution-free nature, long economic life and typically low unit energy costs. Only 42% of the region’s hydropower potential, estimated at 31,000 MW, has been developed (NBI, 2020). The Nile is a resource of strategic importance with potential to support the Nile riparian countries to overcome development challenges and transform into prosperous nations. But to achieve this goal, a significant amount of investment is needed across several water-related sectors. The amount of investment required is huge, and is more than what any one regional organisation acting alone can deliver. Some form of collaboration amongst the regional organisations present in the Nile Basin to promote a common investment agenda is necessary for effective development of the Nile River Basin. But such collaboration amongst the regional organisations is lacking. There is considerable overlap in their membership and geographical coverage, which with no mechanism for coordination, creates a risk of duplication and inefficient use of resources (finance, human resources, etc.). But the presence of many actors in the basin can also create an opportunity to tap into synergies and develop a regionally coordinated investment framework that would deliver the volume of investment needed to transform the basin into a prosperous region. The Nile River Basin Investment Programme is part of a broader process through which the NBI will work with Nile riparian states, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and other relevant regional and continental organisations, to develop a multi-sectoral and multi-agency portfolio of basin-wide and regionally significant investment projects needed to develop the Nile Basin. The NR-BIP is important and deserving of support because it will:

• Help to scale up investments and deliver increased benefits to the Nile riparian countries in terms of socio-economic development, poverty reduction, job creation, livelihood improvement, water, food and energy security, capacity building, etc.
• Help to improve coordination and develop synergies amongst regional organisations thereby leading to avoidance of duplication and greater efficiency in resource use (financial, human and technical capacities).
• Support the achievement of greater integration across water-related sectors and to more sustainable development.
• Provide orientation and a mechanism for prioritisation and improved delivery of regionally-significant water-related investments in the Nile Basin.
• Contribute to build trust and confidence and deepening of Nile cooperation amongst Nile riparian countries.
• Support regional integration through cooperatively planned and managed water infrastructure, regional power trade, navigation and trade in agricultural products.

The key expected results of the NR-BIP in the interim period (i.e. the first 10 years of the Programme) are outline below. They are:

1. A 5% increase in use of non-conventional water (treated wastewater, agricultural drainage water, and sea water desalination).
2. Increase on water storage capacity of 500 MCM.
3. An increase in wastewater treatment capacity of 150,000 m3/day.
4. An increase of 20,000 ha of farmland that is equipped for irrigation; an increase of 75,000 ha of rainfed farmland where climate-smart agricultural practices have been adopted and are under application.
5. An increase of 1,000 MW of installed hydropower generation capacity; an increase of 50 MW in installed generation capacity (MW) for alternative green energy sources relative and 10 GWh/yr increase in power traded between countries.
6. An improvement of navigation along a 400 km stretch of waterway, and an increase of US$2 million/year in value of bulk goods transported by water between Nile countries, and an increase of US$1million in value of intra-basin agricultural trade (USD/yr.).
7. An increase of 25,000 ha of watershed under improved management.
8. A 5% reduction in human deaths and 5% reduction in economic damage resulting from climate-related natural disasters.

The overarching consideration in setting the interim targets is to achieve as large an impact as possible with resources that can reasonably be mobilised in the given time. In the longer-term, when the Nile River Basin Management Plan has been fully prepared, the above targets will be replaced by targets drawn from the Nile River Basin Management Plan (NR-BMP). The Nile Basin 10-Year Strategy Goal 6 Strategic Direction 1.6 and 1.7: 1.6 Strengthen joint basin and sub-basin water resources management Planning. Under this Strategic Direction, Nile-SEC is to develop agreed planning framework to support coordination water resources planning and management in the Nile Basin. 1.7 Strengthen basin investment programmes preparation and management. Under this Strategic Direction, Nile-SEC is to:

• Put in place a basin‐wide investment programme support function at the Nile-SEC;
• Develop, promote and initiate implementation of a basin‐wide investment programme building on NBI's sub‐basin level multi‐sector investment programmes.

There are 3 Nile Navigation scenarios being looked up:

1. Baseline Scenario (Business as Usual/Current Status quo scenario) - How the Nile-NAV is at the moment and what water requirements are needed to keep it going;
2. Minimum Impacts Scenario (Low-impacts and No -Regret Developments scenario);
3. Full development scenario/high impacts developments scenario (a combination of baseline scenario and National Development Plans up to 2038)- Here we may consider all developments planned by the countries.

The Nile River Basin Investment Programme (NR-BIP) Programme Document highlights the problem, the rationale of NR-BIP, the Concept, Goals and Objectives of NR-BIP, the three thematic area of the programme which includes:

• Water Security and Climate Resilient Water Resources Management;
• Food security and agricultural water management;
• Energy security, regional power trade, hydropower generation, other renewable energy sources.

The approach for the projects section to form the NR-BIP project portfolio is also fully described. A project selection criterion has been outlined that will be used to screen projects and rank them. After that, the first projects intake for the BIP will be prepared and presented to the Head of States Summit for their pronouncement and visibility that will enable resource mobilisation and implementation. The NR-BIP is multisectoral programme that includes all key players in the basin e.g. Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Nile Basin Secretariat (Nile-SEC), The Nile Basin Initiative Subsidiary Action Programmes (NELSAP-CU and ENTRO), Lake Victoria Basin Commission, IGAD, East Africa Power Pool (EAPP) and the countries. The Nile River Basin Investment Programme (NR-BIP) Programme Document highlights the implementation arrangements, financing, monitoring and evaluation of the programme results and analysed the risks involved.