progress attained by NBI, it is feared that the initiative has little hope of achieving its goals in large part because of the World Bank’s- involvement and funding. It is on record that the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have played the single role in the impoverishment of the African continent (Foulds, 2002). It has been noted that because of World Bank’s policies, half of its projects have been unsuccessful and the failure rate is even higher in the poorest countries (Ibid). Therefore, considering the fact that six of the world’s ten poorest countries are within the Nile Basin, the World Bank-Nile Basin Initiative “inter-marriage” presents a doubtful scenarios of achieving the initiative’s objectives.
b) Nile Basin Water Treaty of 1929
Though the NBI tries to bring together all the Nile basin states to cooperate in the sustainable management of the Nile River, the 1929 Nile Basin Treaty still holds a lot of water. It is not yet known whether the NBI is done in good faith or as pretence to appease the international community especially the donors. It should be noted that the 79-year-old water sharing treaty has kept Nile Basin countries into vigorous conflict over the region’s most precious resource (Tvedt, 2004). It regulates Nile water usage among the 10 countries that share the Nile River’s watershed but giving much power to the Egyptians. In this sensitive political climate, any country in the Nile basin which wishes to utilizes the Nile water, has to seek permission from the Egypt. For example, the treaty requires Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda which are at the source of the Nile to seek permission from Cairo, 6 000 kilometres away, before drawing water from Lake Victoria to cultivate their
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