Water, Africa and Politics

‘The only matter that could lead Egypt to war again is water’ – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, 1979  This quote reflects how integral water is in the world of politics and specifically how it plays critical role in the power dynamic and authority over water allocation of the Nile basin. The river Nile, the longest river in the world, has been a major source of freshwater for over 250 million people . For decades, clashes over Nile waters have been frequent between Egypt and Ethiopia resulting in transboundary water conflicts over hegemonic power of management of the Nile.  During Egypt’s colonial time, in 1929, an Anglo-Egyptian treaty was concluded between Great Britain and Egypt to establish water management of Nile basin, giving Egypt a hydro hegemony over the Nile and control of the majority of Nile water, with the right to reject any reservoir construction in other states. Then in 1959 a new bilateral treaty was issued between Egypt and independent Sudan, which provide...

  Hello everyone!  Welcome to my blog, where I am going to research and educate myself, and hopefully the reader, on the topic of water and politics within the vast continent of Africa.  Water plays a fundamental role in all parts of the world and is one of the natural resource’s humans are unable to sustain life without. Freshwater systems are one of the largest in the world on the African continent and contribute to the balanced working of water, carbon, and energy cycles across the world. In the past decades, the topic of water has become a major concern as pressure from expanding urban areas, climate change, low investment, corruption, government weakness and poor management of water resources reduces availability of water supply.  On one hand, lack of management, political tensions between the governments and unilateral actions from the states continues to increase the risk of conflicts. On the other hand, already existing water stress and pressure due to urban...