Ministers in charge of environment protection in Nile Basin Initiative member states have called for more investments in integrated water resources management in the region.

The call was made during Nile Day celebrations held on Monday.

The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) is an intergovernmental partnership that brings together 10 countries linked to River Nile and these are; Burundi, DR Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

Eritrea participates as an observer.

Speaking during the celebrations, Jeanne d'Arc Mujawamariya, Rwanda's Minister of Environment who is also the current chairperson of Nile Council of Ministers commended the choice and selection of the day theme; ‘Rethinking regional investments in the Nile Basin'. 

"The theme provides us with another opportunity to highlight the importance of working together, to negotiate, agree and prepare regional investment projects," she said.

Mujawamariya said water resources need to be equitably and sustainably used adding that it requires joint investments for better impact.

"We all need water to survive, we need energy as a key pillar of economic development. However, we can only benefit equitably and sustainably from the shared River Nile by having a cooperation framework," she said.

The minister is also set to launch the state of Nile River Basin report 2020 on Monday afternoon.

Among the issues affecting the basin include degraded catchments, unsustainable water resources use, water pollution, lack of coordinated investments, climate change affects among others.