With two dedicated sessions and a number of mentions throughout other presentations, the Nile Basin took the center stage during the conference, with a strong focus on the representations and framing of the Nile and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in the media and political rhetoric.

The Nile is a significant source of drinking water. However, the consequences of anthropogenic activity, including agricultural runoff and industrial and municipal waste, are causing increasing pollution.

Transboundary water management in the Jordan River basin and the Blue Nile basin has historically been difficult. While water diplomacy surrounding the Jordan River is obstructed by decades of geopolitical conflicts between the riparians and unilateral infrastructure projects, cooperation over the Blue Nile has been hampered by conflicting views on water ownership and resource utilization for most of the 20th and 21st century.