The NBI divides the Nile into two subsidiaries:

The Eastern Nile Subsidiary, (which includes Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia) and the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary (which includes DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Egypt, and Sudan).

The Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program (NELSAP)

The NELSAP covers the following projects:
- The Kagera Transboundary Integrated Water Resources Management and Development project (Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda).
- The Mara Transboundary Integrated Water Resources Management and Development project (shared between Tanzania and Kenya).
- The Sio-Malaba-Malakisi Transboundary Integrated Water Resources Management and Development project (shared between Uganda and Kenya).
- The Lakes Edward and Albert Fisheries Pilot Project (LEAF) (shared between Uganda and DR Congo).
- The Abatement of Water Hyacinth on the Kagera River Project.
- The Agricultural Trade and Investment Project.
- The Strategic Social and Environmental Assessment of Power Options.
- Scaling-up the NELSAP Investment Program

The Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program (ENSAP)

The ENSAP covers the following projects:
- The Ethiopia Power Export Project
- The Flood Preparedness and Early Warning Project
- The Eastern Nile Planning Model Project
- The Eastern Nile Power Trade Investment Project
- The Watershed Management Cooperative Regional Assessment (CRA)
- The Irrigation and Drainage Cooperative Regional Assessment

The Shared Vision Program (SVP)

The SVP covers the following projects:
- The Applied Training Project – Egypt
- The Nile Transboundary Environmental Action Project – Sudan
- The Nile Basin Regional Power Trade Project – Tanzania
- The Efficient Use of Water for Agriculture Project – Kenya
- The Water Resources Planning and Management Project – Ethiopia
- The Confidence-Building and Stakeholder Involvement (CBSI) Project - Uganda
- The Socio-economic Development and Benefit Sharing Project –Uganda
- The SVP Coordination Project – Uganda

Egypt's role

Diplomacy and negotiations

Diplomacy is a major component of Egypt's role in the NBI.
• Egypt expresses full commitment to Nile cooperation protocols and respects the interests of all Nile-sharing states.
• Egyptian officials have been shuttling to and from the ten riparian states to coordinate efforts to implement the 20 or so NBI projects.
• Egypt has highlighted its commitment to developing Nile resources to benefit the ten riparian states and has further offered its expertise for the purpose of implementing joint Nile projects that would promote stability, peace and development in Nile-basin countries.
• Egypt is keen on attending the regular meetings of the Eastern Nile Subsidiary and the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary.

Egypt's role has been obvious in:
• The Meeting of the Blue Nile Countries, held in Sharm al Sheikh in June 2004, where:
- Participating ministers of water in Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan ruled out reported differences between the ten riparian states.
- Attendees described cooperation between the ten riparian states as having transcended confidence-building between governmental bodies and parliaments to consolidating ties between peoples.

• The First Parliamentary Forum of the Nile-basin Countries held in Egypt in March 2004. The purpose was to ensure sustained communication between Nile-sharing peoples.

Egypt's role in economic development
Nile Basin Trust Fund (NBTF)
The NBTF supports the preparation and implementation of NBI programs including the basin-wide Shared Vision Program (SVP) and the sub-basin investment programs ENSAP and NELSAP. At the basin-wide level, the NBTF also supports the process of NBI dialogue and engagement and efforts to strengthen the capacity of NBI institutions. At the sub-basin level, NBTF supports the preparation and implementation of joint investment projects. Click here for a list of NBTF-supported NBI programs/projects.

NBTF funds are transferred to the NBI, which has the primary responsibility for the implementation of project activities. Almost all (about 95 percent) NBTF-financed NBI projects are recipient-executed. This helps ensure ownership of NBI activities and contributes to building institutional capacity to implement regional projects. As progress is made in program implementation and a permanent institutional framework for the NBI is agreed, the NBTF will be transferred to an NBI institution.

As the NBTF administrator, the World Bank is responsible for fiduciary management of pooled multi-donor resources and for preparing and supervising NBTF-financed projects in accordance with the Bank's rules and procedures.

In addition, the NBTF Committee is responsible for overseeing the operation of the trust fund and ensuring that resources used meet NBI program objectives. This Committee is comprised of representatives from contributing agencies, the NBI, and the World Bank. Formal NBTF Committee meetings are held once a year in one of the Basin countries.

Transboundary cooperation projects

The most important are:
The Eastern Nile Planning Model Project: which is intended to help Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan identify, prepare, and implement cooperative development projects that benefit all three countries. The planning model will help identify, evaluate, and prioritize potential investment projects. The modeling system will provide a common analytical basis and structured process for engaging stakeholders in the process of identifying and assessing options, quantify benefits and impacts, evaluate tradeoffs, and analyze and manage information. The planning model will enable the three countries to share a common regional information management system and modeling tools are essential to support investment planning.

The Ethiopia Power Export Project: (formerly callled the Ethiopia-Sudan Interconnection Project) will connect the power grids of Ethiopia and Sudan to facilitate cross-border energy trade and optimize existing and planned generation capacity. This is needed in order to overcome the severe electricity shortage in both countries, which is a major constraint to poverty reduction and economic growth. It is a first step toward greater regional power trade. The World Bank is providing financing for investments in Ethiopia, and the Government of Sudan is funding activities in Sudan.

The West Delta Water Conservation and Irrigation Rehabilitation Project objectives are to improve the livelihood and increase the income of people in the West Delta region of Egypt through: (i) mitigating further environmental degradation caused by excessive drawdown of the groundwater resources; and (ii) establishing a framework for financial sustainability of irrigation infrastructure in the use of water resources.

Bilateral cooperation projects

Sudan
The Jonglei Canal project
The Jonglei Canal was designed to bypass the Sudd and direct downstream a proportion of the water that is 'lost' from the Nile each year by spill and evaporation in the swamps. Upon completion, the canal should provide around 7 billion meters3 of water to be shared equally by Egypt and Sudan.

The Bahr al-Ghazal project
The project should provide a total of 7 billion meters3 to be shared equally by Egypt and Sudan.


The Mashar swamps project
The project should provide around 4 billion meters3 of water to be shared equally by Egypt and Sudan.

A joint Egyptian Sudanese company was set up to develop the Nile waterway for use in navigation.

A pilot project is currently being carried out whereby Egypt is planting staple crops in the Upper Nile province of Sudan.

Ethiopia
Egypt has undertaken several investment projects in Ethiopia (agriculture, subterranean well digging, and the manufacturing of irrigation pipes).

Uganda
Egypt and Uganda are cooperating in all fields, especially the management and development of water resources, rainfall-related SMEs, information systems, the abatement of water hyacinth in the equatorial lakes.