The challenge facing planners and engineers on the River Nile for over a century has been regulating the river’s flow to harness its benefits and reduce its costs in terms of flood damage and low flows during periods of exceptional rainfall and drought in the Ethiopian highlands and/or Lake Victoria basin. The complexity of the system and the changing geopolitical landscape of the basin have made these tasks especially difficult to accomplish. Nevertheless, since the early 1990s huge strides have been made towards a more cooperative understanding and common development agenda shared by the Nile countries. The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), since 1999 provided an institutional basis for cooperation with a strong backing from development partners.

Now at implementation stage of Nile investment projects fully funded by donors, NBI represents an unprecedented opportunity to develop the River Nile in such a way as to optimise the basket of benefits available to all countries and thereby to enhance significantly socio-economic development, the protection and conservation of key environmental resources and to prevent future conflicts arising. NBD will be interested in all these developments including the Nile´s potential to power the region. We shall look at them closely in the coming publications.

Present interconnections
 DRC, Burundi and Rwanda interconnection line at 70 kV and 110 kV from the jointly developed hydro power station Ruzizi II;
Cross-border electrification at 30/33 kV between Uganda  - Rwanda, and 132 kV between Uganda - Tanzania and Uganda - Kenya.
The electric power system of Egypt is interconnected at 400 kV through Libya to other Maghreb countries and Southern Europe; and through Jordan to Eastern Mediterranean countries.

Planned interconnections
 Ethiopia-Sudan (230 kV): under construction, to be commissioned end of 2010;
Ethiopia-Djibouti (230 kV): under construction, to be commissioned end of 2010/beginning of 2011
Uganda–Rwanda (220 kV): to be commissioned in 2013 (NELSAP project);
Rwanda-Burundi (220 kV): to be commissioned in 2013 (NELSAP project);
 Burundi-DRC (220 kV): to be commissioned in 2013 (NELSAP project);
Kenya-Uganda (220 kV): to be commissioned in 2013 (NELSAP project);
 Ethiopia-Kenya (500 kV HVDC): final feasibility study to be commissioned in 2012;
Ethiopia – Sudan – Sudan - Egypt (500 kV AC/600 kV HVDC): feasibility study pending (ENTRO project);
Kenya – Tanzania (220 kV): feasibility study ongoing;
 Uganda – Tanzania (220 kV): feasibility study ongoing;
 Uganda – DR Congo (220 kV): feasibility study pending;
 Uganda – Sudan (220 kV): feasibility study pending;
Sudan Eritrea: feasibility study pending

Source: NBI presentation to UNDF  2010 stakeholder forum