Cooperation in International Waters in Africa: Annual Report FY2017
CIWA assists riparian governments in Sub-Saharan Africa
in addressing constraints to cooperative water resources management
and development with the goal of unlocking the potential for
sustainable, inclusive, and climate-resilient growth.
Message from the Program Manager:
The Cooperation in International Waters in Africa (CIWA) program works at the interface of some of the most important challenges facing Africa today: economic development and growth; poverty reduction and social inclusion; climate mitigation and adaptation; fragility and conflict; and disaster risk management and reduction. The way that Africa’s water is developed, managed, and shared has very significant ramifications for each of these challenges, and the CIWA program—part of the World Bank’s global water practice—is proud to be working with African leaders, organizations and communities to tackle these challenges.
With most of Sub-Saharan Africa’s water resources shared among several countries, cooperation over those resources is essential. The CIWA program continues to provide clients with the well-rounded support they need to improve their ability to manage and develop their water resources in inclusive, climate-smart, and cooperative ways.
Estimated Beneficiaries
52.7 million
Investments Influenced
US$12.9 billion
Africa has tremendous but currently undermanaged water resources that can improve livelihoods, strengthen water security, improve resilience, and fuel economic growth.
Since 90% of Africans live in shared river basins, transboundary cooperation is key to meeting Africa’s development needs.
CIWA comes in to help the member states think through the different development options and hopefully come up with a development trajectory that will lead to sustainability, and fairness and equity amongst all the countries.
CIWA can help ensure that anytime there is a discussion, policy, program, or project, that communities are also being involved, that civil society has its voice, for us to participate in a very constructive manner to the debate.
Nile • Volta • Zambezi
Lake Chad • Nile • Zambezi
Nile • Zambezi
ECOWAS • Lake Chad • Nile • SADC • Zambezi
ECOWAS • Niger • Okavango • SADC • Volta • Luapula
Niger • Nile • Mono
Niger • Nile • Okavango • Volta • Zambezi
Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals on poverty, health, energy, the environment and many others relies on managing water resources better. For the countries of Africa – the guardians of so many shared water resources – this often means working together, and as pressure on water increases, working together ever more closely. As countries look to harness untapped water potential, manage floods, droughts and declining water quality, or simply find more cost-effective ways of advancing their broader development agendas, CIWA can play a key role.
CIWA currently has a strong portfolio of projects across Africa, but need and demand from countries, river-basin organizations, regional economic communities, and other stakeholders for additional CIWA support remains high. Scaling up regional approaches to groundwater management, finding ways to enhance basin water conservation, and building the evidence base for rehabilitation of natural infrastructure for climate resilience are just some of the emerging areas CIWA has been asked to support.
CIWA has a regularly augmented and evaluated pipeline of demand-driven projects that await support, and continuing to mobilize additional resources is therefore a priority for CIWA.CIWA Moving Foward