Egypt’s control over the Nile waters came to an end late in May when, at a ceremony in Kampala, six countries (Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda) ratified a ‘Cooperation Framework Agreement’ (CFA) that repeals the colonial treaty of 1929. The World Bank Trust which manages the resources of the Nile Basin, had been blocking development projects along the river outside Egypt and Sudan because the existing ‘Nile Basin Initiative’ lacked a legal basis which the new CFA now provides – East African.

Without waiting for the new agreement Tanzania has already tapped the waters of the Nile by pumping water to Shinyanga and Kahama. It is now planning a new project to take water to a population of 420,000 people in Tabora Region.