Ministers examine rivers' development potential

Africa’s rivers are a springboard for economic development, a key summit aimed at ending years of conflict over its untapped water resources heard on Tuesday. Ministers from 19 countries are meeting in Addis Ababa over the next two days to work out how to tap the enormous potential of three river basins – the Nile, the Zambezi and the Senegal. Ethiopia’s Minister of Water Resources Shiferaw Jarso said the continent’s water was the “most important resource” for its future development. “The utilisation of these rivers has mostly been a source of contention and conflict,” he said at the ministerial roundtable on ‘Africa’s Experience of International Waters’. According to the African Development Bank (ADB) a mere 4 percent of the continent’s fresh water resources are utilised. “There is growing demand in Africa for freshwater resources,” Abdirahman Beileh told delegates at the meeting, but he warned that demand might spark future conflict. He also acknowledged that “enormous” financial hurdles remained to building a water infrastructure – even though the ADB has itself pledged some US$33 million for the Nile Basin initiative. More than two-thirds of Africa’s 60 river basins are shared by more than one country and this has led to fears that clashes could erupt over who should harness them and how. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) warned in a recent report that potential 'water wars' were likely in areas where rivers are shared by more than one country. Sam Nyambi, who heads UNDP in Ethiopia, argued that “management and development” of the continent’s water is a core element in the struggle against poverty. “The shared rivers offer many opportunities for increased food production, for transport, for energy, for sound environmental management and for trade and growth,” he said. David Grey, a senior water advisor with the World Bank, echoed his view. “Africa’s international rivers are a major driving force for economic cooperation and even integration,” he noted. Grey believes that that some US$2 billion could be invested in Nile river projects alone in the coming years – much of it from private investment. Among ideas for the Nile – which is shared by Burundi, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda with a total population of around 300 million people – are plans for reducing soil erosion, joint electricity production and a flood early warning system. Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Angola Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe were also represented at the conference, scheduled to end on Wednesday.