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Sharing Africa’s water resourcesPresident Yoweri Museveni has called for Africa to explore ways of sharing its vast water resources to address severe water shortages affecting parts of the continent, particularly in North Africa.
Speaking at the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) summit in Munyonyo, Kampala, Museveni spoke of the untapped potential of the Congo River in alleviating water crises across Africa.
The Congo River, the world’s second-largest by discharge, releases an estimated 3,000 billion cubic metres of water annually into the Atlantic Ocean.
Sharing Africa’s water resources
President Museveni questioned whether this immense resource could be harnessed to benefit water-stressed areas such as Northern Africa, which grapples with periodic water shortages.
He urged African leaders to consider solutions, including the transfer of water from resource-rich regions to drought-prone areas.
"Why doesn’t Africa discuss with our brothers in Congo about how this massive water that is not used could help the water-stressed parts of Africa?" Museveni asked.
“Is the Atlantic Ocean thirsty for water?”
Museveni also called for curbing of local practices that undermine water resources, including the encroachment of wetlands, forests, and riverbanks.
Navigating Africa’s water challenges
Museveni’s remarks come amid heightened tensions over water resources in Africa, particularly the ongoing dispute between Egypt and the Nile Basin countries.
The Nile, which sustains millions in East and North Africa, has become a source of contention as upstream nations seek to exploit it more extensively, much to Egypt’s disapproval.
Museveni suggested that African nations also explore desalination technologies to address water shortages, citing the natural process of ocean evaporation as a model.
“If the cost of desalination goes down, Egypt and other coastal countries will become upstream countries, while we who harbour the origin of the Nile will become downstream,” he remarked.
The CAADP summit, held under the African Union’s Agenda 2063, aims to foster agricultural transformation across the continent.
The summit attracted several Heads of State and governments across Africa, politicians, technocrats and members of the academia from across the globe.