Ethiopia, South Sudan eye cooperation in water and irrigation sector

Addis Ababa, July 21, 2023 (FBC) – The Ethiopian Embassy has teamed up with the Standing Committee of Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) of the Republic of South Sudan to conduct a two-day consultative workshop on Nile Basin Initiative Cooperation Framework Agreement.

Speaking at the event, Ethiopian Ambassador to South Sudan, Nebil Mahdi said the program aims to create awareness about the cooperative framework and its benefits to the government and people of South Sudan.

“Time has come for us to utilize our close relationship for the benefit of our two people in the areas of infrastructure and electricity connectivity and capacity building,” the Ambassador said.

Ethiopia wants to identify possible areas for cooperation with South Sudan on capacity building in the areas of utilization of water resources such as irrigation, he added.

The chairperson of the Standing Specialized Committee on Water and Irrigation, Bongout Amum, said the awareness creation platform would help the committee to contribute its share in strengthening the mutual cooperation.

“It is the orientation focused on documents related to the Nile Basin Initiative. The workshop helps members of the committee to prepare themselves for future endeavors,” he said.

South Sudan is in the process of ratifying the Cooperative Framework Agreement.

The Nile Basin Initiative countries are South Sudan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and Burundi have signed the Nile Basin Initiative.