'Water No Get Enemy' - introducing Talking African Hydropolitics

Water No Get Enemy -  a popular song by legendary Nigerian musician and Pan-Africanist, Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Incidentally, it's one of my favourites. Hearing it for the first time allowed me to reflect on the true value of water, something we so often take for granted. Throughout the track, Fela highlights our dependencies upon water in all facets of our lives; for sanitation, cooking or hydration. In reality, this household use of water only represents a fraction of total water use. Globally, the overwhelming majority - 70% - of freshwater withdrawals are used for agricultural purposes, with only 10% designated for domestic use and the remaining 20% used in industry (Sachs, 2008; Calzadilla, Rehdanz and Tol, 2010).

Putting it plainly, water is in hot demand and, with rapid population growth and urbanisation in Africa (Chirisa, 2008), coupled with unprecedented weather extremes via climate change, water is increasingly becoming a point of conflict (Brown, Hammill and McLeman, 2007). Indeed, whilst water is no enemy to us, its salience certainly creates hostile relations between people and nations.

Consider this - in Africa, there are thought to be 88 transboundary groundwater aquifers (UN - IGRAC, 2016) which, akin to crude oil reserves, provide non-renewable resources. Where these aquifers traverse borders, scenarios of

Map depicting the 88 transboundary aquifers in Africa
UN - IGRAC, 2016

hydrological interdependence arise - "where water use by one group or region affects the water availability and security of others" as Jeffrey Sachs describes it in 'Common Wealth'.

Here we have to ask the questions:

Who gets to govern these aquifers?
Who will benefit from the exploitation of the aquifers?

What will happen once the reserves run out?

Should they be privatised for profit, or treated as a public good?

It's not just groundwater that drives conflict. We must also consider the governance of freshwater reserves. After all, the continent is home to 2 of the 10 biggest river systems in the world.

Over the coming weeks, we will explore examples of water-centric conflicts in Africa across different scales. We will look at enormous infrastructure projects in politically-sensitive zones, taken to secure national water supplies and drive economic growth. We will explore the governance of water at regional and local levels, where different actors clash as they try to secure their piece of the pie.

Next time, I will introduce the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a mega project on the Nile. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this post. Please feel free to leave a comment.