The Socio-Economic Profiles of the Nile Basin Countries
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CHAptER 3 Photo: istock Photo: Maize farm THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILES OF THE NILE BASIN COUNTRIES Nile Basin Water Resources Atlas / 49 KEY MEssAGES Population is increasing; Almost all Nile Basin countries sustain significant deficits in providing basic needs; Population has been growing in all There is considerable unmet demand Nile Basin countries are facing countries. Egypt’s estimated per basin countries for basic needs formidable challenges to provide capita GDP of over 10,500 USD is the basic needs of their popula- more than five-fold the GDP per As of 2012, Nile Basin countries’ Almost all countries have made tion. Cooperative management capita of any of the other Nile total population is estimated at progress in terms of increasing and development of the common Basin countries. over 480 million, which means the proportion of population with Nile resources promises to make Nile Basin countries are home to access to clean drinking water. significant contribution toward Expanding economies and rapidly over 40 percent of the African However, overall, the proportion meeting these deficits. growing population bring about population. Some 257 million of the population with access to opportunities as well as challeng- people live within the Nile Basin basic needs (health, education, The GDP of nearly all Nile Basin es. With growing economies, for- boundary. sanitation, electricity) is still very countries has been growing steadily eign investment is growing and low by average global standards. living standards of the population In all countries, urban population With the exception of Egypt, the The GDP of nearly all basin increasing. However, expanding is expected to continue growing percentage of population with ac- countries is increasing, indicating economies also mean increasing accompanied by a relative shrink- cess to clean water is quite low by expanding economies. Countries demand for energy, water supply ing of rural population. world standards. In 8 countries, that showed relatively high GDP and food. Further, growing urban- the percentage of urban popula- growth rates are Ethiopia, with ization is contributing to increas- The population of Nile Basin tion with access to sanitation is average of 7.7 percent per annum ing demand for energy, food, countries grew by over four fold less than 50 per cent. For rural for the period 2005 – 2011, and water and services. in 50 years between 1960 and areas, the figure is less than 30 Tanzania, with average of 5.2 per 2010. As a result, the demand percent. cent for the same period. Five for food, energy and water has other countries recorded average been escalating. Per capita water Per capita electricity consumption GDP growth rate of about 3.5 per availability has been declining as for all countries except Egypt is cent per annum. the population has grown expo- less than 200 kWh per year. This nentially. is very low compared to average There is significant disparity in world consumption. GDP per capita among Nile Basin 50 / Nile Basin Water Resources Atlas INTRODUCTION Photo: istock Photo: Girl planting mango tree This chapter describes the main face in meeting the basic chapter provide an overview of and economic status of the basin socio-economic indicators for Nile needs of their citizens and the the basin in terms of: population countries, such as GDP, poverty Basin countries. The objective is opportunities the common Nile its distribution and growth; level and income distribution. to enable better understanding Basin water resources offer to health related indicators, such Data used to generate the of socio-economic development address these challenges. as child mortality rates; access indicators have been pooled from of riparian countries; and the to basic services, such as Nile Basin countries, UN agencies development challenges they The indicators selected for this drinking water and electricity; and other global data portals. Nile Basin Water Resources Atlas / 51 DEMOGRAPHY Population distribution In Nile Basin Countries Spatial Population Distribution In The Nile Basin Alexandria Port Said Tanta Shibin Al Kawm Population density, 2015 Cairo Suez (people per square kilometre) 0 1 - 5 Main Nile Bani Suwayf 6 - 25 Al Minya 26 - 50 Asyut 51 - 100 Suhaj 101- 500 501 - 2,500 Egypt Qina 2501 - 5,000 Al Kharjah more than 5,000 The NBI is not an authority Aswan on international boundaries Lake Nasser Wadi Halfa' Photo: Istock Photo: Group of children, East Africa Argo Dongola Main Nile Meraowe The spatial distribution of population in Nile Valley in Egypt, yet these areas rep- Berber Tekeze the basin is influenced by a number of resent only five per cent of the country’s Shendi factors among which are climate, rainfall, land area. Eritrea Sudan Khartoum Aroma Asmara soil fertility, mineral resources, and social Omdurman New Halfa Kassala Al Qutaynah and economic infrastructure (transport, In the upstream parts of the basin, the Shuwak Adi Keyh Sodari Wad Medani Al Qadarif Kutum Mellit education, health, telecommunications, pattern of human settlement mainly fol- Ad Duwaym Al Fashir Al Hawata and hospitality sector facilities). The influ- lows that of rainfall. The highest popula- El Obied Blue Nile Rahad Gonder ence of water availability (in the form of tion densities in the upstream countries Abu Zabad Dinder Nyala NileWhite Lake Tana large water bodies or rainfall) appears to are in the Ethiopian Highlands and the overshadow other factors. Nile Equatorial Lakes Plateau – both re- Muglad Dese Talawdi gions of high rainfall. Whereas large parts Bahr el Arab In the most downstream countries - of DR Congo, Eritrea, Kenya, and Tanza- Malakal Lol Aweil Jur Sobat Addis Ababa Egypt and Sudan - human settlement is nia are sparsely populated, there are parts Bahr el Zeraf Baro Kuru Ethiopia mainly concentrated along the course of of these countries within the Nile Basin Akobo Jima Pongo South Sudan the River Nile. For example, population that are densely populated as they fall in Tanj Rumbek Pibor density is very high in the Nile Delta and the high rainfall belt. Suo Tambura Juba Bahr El Jebel Torit Yambio Kitgum Arua Gulu Victoria Aswa Lake Albert Soroti Bunia Lake Kyoga Fort Portal Uganda D R Congo Eldoret Lake George Jinja Kisumu Lubero Entebbe Kampala Kenya Lake Edward Mbarara Kisii Lake Victoria Migori Rutshuru Musoma Nairobi Kabale Bukoba Kigali Ruwana Rwanda Sengerema 0 195 390 Biharamulo Bujumbura Tanzania Kilometers Burundi Kahama Photo: Nile-SEC Photo: Expanding cities, Cairo, Egypt Source of data: A data centre in NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), Hosted by CIESIN at Columbia University 52 / Nile Basin Water Resources Atlas Estimated and projected total population in Nile Basin Countries Population projection in Nile Basin Countries 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 Total population (million) Total 60 40 20 0 1970 1980 1990 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2050 Burundi DR Congo Egypt Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Rwanda South Sudan Sudan Uganda Tanzania Source of data: World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision from the UN Population Division and projection to 2050 Rwanda National Population projection, 2007 -2022, Uganda National Population and Housing Census, DRC Population census, 1984 and projections to 2050. The current total population of Nile Basin the Nile Basin is estimated at 257 million countries is estimated at 487.3 million. (or 53% of the total population of Nile Ethiopia has the highest population (99.4 Basin countries). Egypt has the highest million) closely followed by Egypt (91.5 population living within the Nile Ba- million) and DR Congo (72.1 million). sin (85.8 million), followed by Uganda Eritrea (5.2 million), Burundi (11.2 mil- (33.6 million), Ethiopia (37.6 million) lion) and Rwanda (11.7 million) have the and Sudan (31.4 million). Eritrea (2.2 smallest populations. million) and DR Congo (2.9 million) have the smallest populations within the Nile The combined population living within Basin. Estimated and projected Rural population 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 Population (million) Population 40 30 20 10 0 1970 1980 1990 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2050 Burundi DR Congo Egypt Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Rwanda South Sudan Sudan Uganda Tanzania Source of data: World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision from the UN Population Division and projection to 2050 Rwanda National Population projection, 2007 -2022, Uganda National Population and Housing Census, DRC Population census, 1984 and projections to 2050. Estimated and projected Urban population 100 photo: Istock photo: 90 Women from the Masai tribe of Kenya 80 70 Projections of urban and rural popu- shrink in all countries. 60 lation growth are shown in adjacent With increasing urban population, 50 charts. The proportion of urban popula- urbanization rate will increase. This, in tion is expected to rise in all Nile Basin turn, will result in increased demands 40 Population (million) Population countries. By 2050, the percentage of for better water supply, sanitation, 30 urban population is expected to reach electricity, communication and other 20 above 50 percent of the total popula- services. Urbanization is expected to 10 tion in four of the 11 Nile Basin riparian increase the pressure on natural re- 0 states. In seven countries the urban pop- sources and the environment as expan- 1970 1980 1990 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2050 ulation makes up more than 40 percent sion of cities occurs generally at expense Burundi DR Congo Egypt Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya of the total population. In contrast, the of destruction of forests; there is risk of Rwanda South Sudan Sudan Uganda Tanzania rural population is expected to rapidly increasing pollution of water resources. Source of data: World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision from the UN Population Division and projection to 2050 Rwanda National Population projection, 2007 -2022, Uganda National Population and Housing Census, DRC Population census, 1984 and projections to 2050.