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Kenya is set to host this year's Annual Regional Nile Day celebration for the first in the history of the event.

Kenya has a share of the Nile Basin courtesy of Lake Victoria, which is one of the major feeders of the Nile.

Other basin member states include Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Egypt, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo.

Six out of the 10 countries have already hosted the event since its inception in 2007 with Rwanda hosting it in 2007, Ethiopia in 2008 and 2013, Burundi in 2009, Uganda in 2010, 2012 and 2014, DR Congo in 2011 and Sudan in 2015.

The event to be held in Kisumu and Vihiga counties on February 21 and 22 respectively is expected to offer solutions to the climate change issues which have faced the basin.

Kisumu residents are already feeling the impacts of the climate change with the lake water starting to bulge into the residential and commercial areas.

In a statement from NBI headquarters in Uganda, the event themed "Nile Cooperation: Gateway to Regional Integration" will be used to enhance understanding of Nile Cooperation as a vehicle for regional integration within the basin.

The organisers are expected to hold a major press conference in Kisumu on February 21 before the main event on 22.

Kisumu and Vihiga are vital points for the Lake Victoria Basin which is part of the Nile Basin as Vihiga is the upper head works of River Nile, whose water drains into Lake Victoria through Kisumu before it starts its journey to the While Nile.

The celebrations to be hosted by the Ministry of Water and Natural Resources will be attended by Ministers in charge of Water Affairs in the Nile Basin countries (Nile Council of Ministers), representatives from NBI member states, embassies and officials from ministries whose activities touch on the management and development of the shared water resources such as Water, Energy, Environment, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs and Finance.

Others are MPs, development partners, researchers, academia, civil society, youth, media, school children and the general public.

"Participants will learn more about Nile cooperation, its importance, particularly with respect to its catalytic role towards regional integration as well as improved livelihoods in the Nile Basin countries," read the statement in part.

It proceeded: "This is in addition to exchanging experiences, views and ideas on how to collectively take care of and use the shared Nile Basin water and related resources to maximise win-win benefits, minimise risks and costs and for a peaceful and prosperous future for current and future generations."