Experts meet over looming water crisis in Africa

During the last 10 years, provision of sanitation in rural Africa has decreased by two per cent, while the low levels of urban water supply and sanitation have hardly improved.

Arid and semi-arid areas are likely to be the most affected by increased water stress. Underlying many of these problems is the fact that water is a finite resources.

In Kenya, for instance, poor weather has led to perennial shortages across most towns. Nairobi has been experiencing acute water shortage for the last three years, resorting to rationing.

Participants at the conference will deliberate on the best financing model for the water sector as governments — who account for the bulk of investors in the industry — have failed to guarantee water security.

Water as basic right

The question on whether to open up the sector to private investors, without making the commodity pricier, is set to dominate the agenda of the talks.

“At the end of the day water is still a basic right, so policy makers must ensure that it’s made available at an affordable cost,” said Uganda’s Water Services Regulatory Board CEO Robert Gakubia.

A recent policy shift to privatise water and sanitation services has in some countries, such as Kenya, unearthed inefficiency and prohibitively high prices for the precious commodity.

The destruction of the Mau, an important watershed for Lake Victoria and River Nile, will in the near future have grave consequences for water availability across many countries.

The issue will inevitably feature at the meeting organised by the African Water Association (AfWA), a grouping of 70 water utility companies, and the Uganda government.

In the past decade, significant changes in the climate have led to the deterioration of fresh water resources, a decrease in lake water tables and the flow of rivers.

Organisers said the conference would be the first large-scale and politically committed effort to bring water operators into full partnership with the African Ministers of Water Council (AMCOW) secretariat.

AMCOW is the official arm of the African Union on water and sanitation related issues.