Regional efforts to strengthen power connectivity, climate resilience, and cooperative water resources development in the Nile Equatorial Lakes region gained momentum this week following a series of strategic engagements by the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program Coordination Unit (NELSAP-CU) in Uganda and South Sudan.
The engagements built on meetings held last week in Kampala with Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD) and the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL). 
Discussions focused on advancing implementation of the South Sudan–Uganda Power Interconnection Project (SUPIP), a flagship regional initiative expected to improve electricity trade, energy reliability, and regional integration between the two countries.
In Juba, the NELSAP-CU Regional Coordinator with his team met officials from the Ministry of Energy and Dams, the South Sudan Electricity Corporation (SSEC), and the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation to review progress on ongoing regional projects and strengthen implementation coordination.
During engagements with Hon. Agok Makur Kur, Minister of Energy and Dams, discussions focused on progress under SUPIP and opportunities to accelerate implementation of the regional interconnection project. The Minister was also briefed on the proposed Grand Fulla Hydropower Project, where an MoU was signed authorizing NELSAP-CU to support resource mobilization for project studies.
The delegation later met with the General Manager of SSEC to review project implementation progress and discuss measures to address emerging challenges and sustain momentum as implementation advances.
The Regional Coordinator also paid a courtesy call to South Hon. James Mawich Makuach, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation who is also the Nile Equatorial Lakes Council of Ministers’ Chair.
Discussions covered progress on regional initiatives under the NELSAP portfolio, including the Regional Climate Resilience Program (RCRP), the Angololo Multipurpose Water Resources Development Project recently certified under the Blue Dot Network, the Ruvyironza Multipurpose Project in Burundi, and the Ujiji–Mulembwe Power Interconnection Project between Burundi and Tanzania.

The Regional Coordinator thanked the Government of South Sudan for its continued support to NELSAP-CU. In response, Hon. James Mawich Makuach commended NELSAP-CU and the Nile Basin Initiative for their continued support to riparian countries and welcomed ongoing efforts to mobilize resources for strategic investments in South Sudan, including the Grand Fulla Hydropower Project. He also reaffirmed South Sudan’s commitment to regional cooperation and to meeting its obligations to the Nile Basin Initiative.