That’s it. Senegal has just made history as the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to organize the World Water Forum (WWF). Delayed for a year because of the Covid 19 pandemic, this 9e edition which was held from March 21 to 26, 2022 will have visibly held its letters of nobility. “The meeting resulted in strong proposals for the operational achievement of the targets [Eau] of the 2030 Agenda and, more generally, for the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim being to make recommendations to the 2023 United Nations Water Conference in New York in the United States”says the UN.
Funding pledges
The World Water Council (WWC) believes that Africa needs $20 billion by 2030 for the consolidation of political and institutional reforms, the increase of public and private investments in the field of water, in addition to the reinforcement of the participation of the populations. Logical, because the continent remains the most affected by water shortages. In 2022, thn average 418 million people out of the 1.3 billion in Africa still do not have even a basic drinking water service, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Among the main challenges are climate change, pollution, population pressure, increasing irrigation needs due to food demand, urbanization, etc.
Also, the president of the CME, Loic Fauchon suggested water debt cancellation for low-income states and communities. This cancellation must be accompanied, according to him, by a requirement for immediate reinvestment in the same amounts in the construction of water and sanitation infrastructure as well as in the maintenance and training of women and men. “We also want a blue fund from climate finance, a real international fund for water security”urges Loic Fauchonensuring that only this massive, but controlled financing will be able to adequately address the challenges of water management.
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Still to secure the water supply, several development partners, including the World Bank, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the French Development Agency (AFD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) are providing funding in Africa. Thus, Senegal will benefit from a loan of 64.5 million euros from the EIB and a grant of 5.55 million euros from the European Union (EU) for drinking water projects.
The future installations will make it possible to supply more than 1.2 million Senegalese who are still unserved. The objective of the West African country is universal drinking water coverage by 2030. According to the Senegalese Ministry of Hydraulics and Sanitation, in 2021, 98.8% of the population in urban areas and 91% in rural areas, 91% had a source of continuous drinking water supply.
These funds will be added to the 4 billion dollars promised by the coalition of Public Development Banks (BPD) for the benefit of African micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Objective, reduce the effects of water stress. The coalition announced in October 2021 that it had successfully raised $1.3 billion.
During the FME, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) presented its report entitled “Groundwater: making the invisible visible. In this document, Unesco explains how aquifers could mitigate the effects of climate change, because they have a unique buffering capacity, capable of limiting the impact of climatic variations. The report recommends in particular the irrigation via solar-powered groundwater pumping systems.
While countries like Mauritania and Namibia are experimenting with this solution to drought, several countries are still lagging behind. However, according to Senegalese President Macky Sall, all solutions are to be taken in view of the situation which is expected to worsen further.
The need for better governance in the water sector
In addition to the financing of infrastructures, it will be necessary to invest in the sustainable management of water. The President of the Republic of Senegal has thus proposed on the political level that the enlargement of the composition of the G20. ” Given the global challenges […], the time has come for a body like the G20 to pay attention to water-related issues, as the World Bank and other international institutions have been doing for decades. The African Union (AU) could thus become a member. Because Africa has more than a quarter of the member countries of the United Nations”said Macky Sall on March 21, 2022, in his opening speech for the 9e edition of the World Water Forum.
The adoption of water laws in parliaments has also been advocated to secure access to drinking water in Africa. According to the Executive Secretary of the 9e FME, Abdoulaye Sène, this measure will allow governments to translate into national public policies, the ways and means to ensure that the human right to water is effective. Better water services would also ensure adequate sanitation services on the continent. According to UNICEF, 79 million people still lack basic sanitation services and 839 million people lack basic hygiene services in sub-Saharan Africa.
Ines Magoum