The Niger Basin Authority (NBA) was created in 1980 in place of the "Niger River Commission". The objective of the organisation is to encourage interstate cooperation for integrated water resources management at the basin level, thus contributing to the regional integration. The NBA has developed a series of important documents, such as the Shared Vision (2005), the Water Charter (2008), the Sustainable Development Action Plan – ADAP (2008), the Investment Program (2008), the Strategic Plan (2012) or the Operational Plan (2012) which now define the framework within which the organisation operates.
More precisely, the NBA is currently addressing issues such as joint basin-wide planning, facilitating the balancing of interests between countries for infrastructure development, support for member countries in their funding requests, as well as specific themes requiring responses at the regional level, such as silting of the river or climate change.
Although the NBA has important basic principles and policy documents, it is not yet in a position to fully fulfil the steering functions required to ensure sustainable development of the transboundary water resources of the Niger Basin.
