From the time of Ancient Greece, including Alexander the Great, the Nile River has sowed mysteries and myths. In many stories spanning generations, this river is also a symbol of romance. But today, she may become the cause of the war world. Treaties signed in 1929 and 1959 provided Egypt and Sudan with water rights. These treaties also mean that no other country can build dams or infrastructure to reduce the share of water resources in these two countries. 90% of Egypt’s water needs depend on the Nile River. However, the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), jointly constructed by Ethiopia and China, has not been approved by Egypt or Sudan, making things sharper in the region. After Ethiopia completed the second stage of filling the dam this week, tensions between the two countries reached the highest level, which increased the risk of water shortages for Egyptians downstream. According to reports, Ethiopia has now transferred approximately 13.5 billion cubic meters of water from the Nile.
“Extremely high water risk” is marked in dark red, covering large areas of arid North Africa, Southern Africa and East Africa. However, the water risk is very different across the continent, because the light patches along the Nile River are scattered across areas that are exposed to severe water risks. The equatorial and tropical areas surrounding the Democratic Republic of the Congo also have a huge surface area, and the water risk is significantly lower than that of its mainland neighbors. Understanding the water risk factors of the African continent is an important prerequisite for changing its water resources and poor management of services, while enhancing climate resilience. Therefore, the author highlights several areas in the water industry that require investment to improve climate resilience and provide better public services. Africa’s agricultural sector will face major risks of water-related climate risks in the future.
The author claims that the agricultural sector in Africa will face water-related climate risks in the future. As 90% of the rural population in sub-Saharan Africa rely on agriculture as their main source of income, and more than 95% of the region’s agriculture relies on rainfall, the consequences of unpredictable rainfall, rising temperatures, extreme droughts and declining crop yields have exposed Africa. Considering these hazards, the World Resources Institute recommends that intergovernmental risk-sharing mechanisms, such as the African Union’s African Risk Capability (ARC), can become increasingly important sovereign insurance mechanisms for climate disaster mitigation because they provide more expenditure than humanitarian Assistance is faster. This work will be expensive: ensuring universally safe drinking water, sanitation, and personal hygiene in sub-Saharan Africa requires an annual capital cost of 35 billion U.S. dollars.
Although the efficient “smart design” of water resources management systems can improve the climate resilience of water and sanitation services, the World Resources Institute considers obtaining sufficient income to maintain new infrastructure as the biggest problem faced by decision makers and engineers in the water sector in Africa Challenge. Investing in climate-resilient green infrastructure can bring countless benefits to the entire economy, namely creating jobs, alleviating poverty, and reducing the impact of climate change on Africa’s most vulnerable and marginalized communities. According to the World Resources Institute, African governments should actively consider these water risks to develop infrastructure systems to protect people, save money in the long run, and protect the fragile ecosystems on which their economies and citizens’ livelihoods depend.
with information from: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2021/07/23/addressing-africas-extreme-water-insecurity/
