Niger Basin Water Resources Development and Sustainable Ecosystems Management Project

closed

The project development objective is to enhance regional coordination, development and sustainability of water resources management in the Niger River Basin. The expected outcomes would include: (i) improved institutional coordination for regional management and development of water resources in the Niger River Basin; (ii) improved performances of rehabilitated hydroelectric plants in targeted areas; (iii) improved irrigated agriculture in targeted areas; and (iv) improved watershed management in targeted areas. There are 3 components to the project: Component 1, Niger Basin Authority (NBA) institutional strengthening and capacity building, will enhance the capacity of the NBA and its National Focal Structures including other national institutions involved in implementing the First Phase Project of the Niger Basin Program. The key sub-components identified are: a) Strengthening and capacity building of the NBA; b) Strengthening and capacity building of national water resources management institutions; and c) Institutional support and strengthening of regional water resources management and planning. Component 2, Rehabilitation, optimization and development of regional infrastructure, will focus on rehabilitating and upgrading the existing large water infrastructure of regional relevance, and supporting the regional planning framework. The subcomponents include: a) Rehabilitation of Kainji dam and hydropower plant; b) Rehabilitation of Jebba hydropower dam; and c) Assessing optimization and management options for the development of regional water infrastructure. Component 3, Sustainable management of selected degraded ecosystems and rehabilitation of small water infrastructure will combine small water infrastructure rehabilitation and ecosystems management in order to support income-generating activities.