Water Governance

     Historically, water has always been a source of greed in Africa. Whether through the lush landscape of Victoria Falls discovered by the Scottish explorer David Livingstone in 1855, or with the haunting journey of the young Charles Marlow in search of Colonel Kurtz on the banks of the Congo Rivers. Water is a commodity that will be considered in this blog as a political product. A product of state governance that has evolved during the political challenges of the 20th century. Today, water resources, especially freshwater, are becoming scarce resources, plagued by numerous national and international disputes. In Africa, water shortages are getting worse, the numbers speak for themselves, water becomes the new "Black Gold": Blue Gold.   

    Faced with this emergency, the notion of "water stress" is introduced to talk about a situation where demand exceeds water resources.

Unfortunately, this state of emergency is found in many African countries. The UN estimates that in 2025, 25 African countries are expected to suffer from water scarcity or water stress in a continent of 1.3 billion people.

This blog will try to treat as many countries as possible. In regions with heterogeneous climatic conditions and topography.

    The management and the politics of the water can be envisaged under the prism of a social,             economic look and more particularly today, under the environmental prism.

    Knowing that 97% of sub-Saharan agriculture systems depend on rainwater according to UNEP.

    The appearance of environmental changes and the mention of agricultural social classes make a    direct link with the economy. Access to water is an inseparable theme of countries' economic development. Moreover, supply problems also affect countries with a high GDP, this is the case of South Africa leading the most economically according to the AfDB and which knows on its territory serious problems of supply . The domestic policies of the countries and the institutional frameworks put in place are parameters highlighted during studies on the management of territories.

Through the articles, and the blog we will study the effect of economic development policies and the progressive retreat of the direct action of the state on water resources.

      Moreover, the country's past politics is also eminently important, as is the impact of the colonial legacy. The political history of the country is a direct consequence of some current crises. Water is the symbol of changing political regimes. Studying the governance of water is also studying the sovereignty of previous decades. By the end of the 1950s, we are witnessing the emergence of African countries' empowerment processes. Except for South Africa, Egypt and Liberia already independent. In all political regimes ranging from the pluralist regime to populism and Sultanism, water is a crucial issue. The sectoral structural adjustments in the early 1980s were marked by a clear impact on the institutions. Similarly for the rise of globalization, free trade and the rise of privatization.

"Water for all instead of champagne for a minority", Thomas Sankara 1st President of  Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (1983-1987). He is the symbol of the pan-africanist policy enschewing foreign aids and the power International Monetary Fund and World Bank. 

The paradox of water in Africa: 

 The African continent does not lack water, it has indeed important resources but unevenly distributed. In addition, the distribution and sanitation infrastructures are lacking. There is a clear separation between arid and semi-arid regions (Libya) and other countries with resources. The water crisis is more related to mobilization capacity than to raw resources. More generally, water is unequally distributed. Currently, the strong demographic pressure, the high urban concentration are the factors of an important mutation of the continent which faces new challenges. Health conditions are also particularly affected and degraded, whether in rural or urban areas. Thus, we can see the importance of the water resources policy. Sustainable resource management is essential in the internal and external policies of countries. As well as an improvement of institutional organizations and normative policies advocated by the World Bank. The goal of this blog is also to mobilize all stakeholders, especially the local private sector and community management. We will see partnerships and governance at different scales between international organizations, private and public actors.

Water management is a work in progress: 

Policies are also under threat from global warming, especially in the Sahel region and its southern part. Storage policy solutions are implemented, for example, to ensure and guarantee security. One example is Senegal and Niger, which have recently installed water tanks to prevent dry seasons. This program is in partnership with FAO according to the Director General José Graziano da Silva. (Source: Le Monde, https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2019/04/03/la-fao-shall-build-million-of-water-storage-cities- to-sahel_5445187_3212.html)

Water as a sharing value: 

Water is also a factor of geopolitical tensions, and the notion of cooperation is at the heart of the debate, a notion that this blog will try to unveil through cross-border cooperation cases, particularly in the Northeast with the Nile watershed. Many countries have realized the value of cooperation and collaboration around sharing water resources. International jurisdiction is essential to protect the world's water resources. An equitable and reasonable sharing of water is mostly in opposition to the principle of sovereignty of the coastal state. 

Water, "Blue Gold" is a coveted commodity that therefore requires legislation. It is from the 90s, that the notion of geopolitics of water is born. It is today an international security issue. Water has multiple uses and they are at the heart of tensions, conflicts and the notion of hydro-politics. Take for example the competition between energy and agricultural use. The conflict dimension is observed at all scales and in each region, whether in urban or rural areas. Faced with this, the will to cooperate has settled in the political consciences of the different countries. Consensus is the backbone of international organizations. Water is a fundamental issue, which as mentioned above is of multiple nature (health, energy, agriculture).

The political deadlock : 

 At the heart of the political tensions is in particular the agricultural sector, in countries where the capacities of governance are insufficient. The case of Egypt perfectly embodies this dispute. A country with significant demography or 40% of its workforce is employed in the agricultural sector. It is at the threshold of its hydraulic potential. Water has been a driving force behind its development, with its Green Revolution that has allowed it to feed its population. Politically, how to reform the agriculture sector and what to do with agricultural labor? From a more general point of view on the African continent: The question of taking water to meet a need is a question of permanent social and political instability. Solutions exist, since the 90s, many institutional frameworks are set up to better cooperate. Water is a symbolic product at the crossroads of political will, interventionism and historical legacy.