The 'Next Oil' - Hydropolitics in Africa an Introductory Blog
The 'Next Oil' - Hydropolitics in Africa
The global water crisis is one of the world's most pressing issues and has been greatly intensified by a combination of rapidly growing global population coupled with intensified climatic change which has put great strain on water resources globally. In 1995 World Bank Vice President Ismail Serageldin stated 'If the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water' (Serageldin 1995). We are comfortably into the century in which Serageldins prediction rests and this prediction appears increasingly accurate as we are faced with increased water scarcity coupled with ever increasing demand globally.
Water the next oil? Illustration by Andrea Ucini - Source
Though, unlike oil, water exists as a fundamental and basic resource for human life, every living thing on the planet needs water. Water fuels society, the economy, the environment and without it our home, the blue marble, would cease to exist. The United Nations estimate that water use has been increasing by about 1% per year since the 1980s and this increase is expected to continue at this rate until 2050 accounting for an increase of 20-30% above current levels of water use (UN 2019). This is a global issue, 4 billion of the world's people (2/3 of the world population) face severe water scarcity at least one month per year (Mekonnen and Hoekstra 2016). Though this is a global challenge, Africa is the continent that appears most challenged by this problem. Not only is the continent the poorest, it also has one of the most rapidly growing populations with half of the global population growth expected by 2050 (1.3 billion out of 2.3 billion globally) occurring within Africa (UN 2019). Though Africa does have water resources they are often distributed unevenly or hard to access especially considering Africa lacks the capital, technology and 'educated manpower' (Falkenmark 1989) to harness more difficult to access water resources.
The iconic 'Blue Marble' photo taken from Apollo 17 with the African continent clearly visible (1972) - Source
54 Sovereign states currently call Africa home, Africa has 70 international rivers with every nation on the African mainland a riparian state of at least one international river (Kittisou 2007). These geographic facts make Africa a tense region in relation to the politics of water. Water scarcity can fuel conflicts (Goldenberg 2014) but can also be used as an 'instrument' of peace and cooperation (Waslekar 2017). In this blog, I will examine Africa's greatest contemporary challenge - water scarcity and the politics which flow from this water scarcity. I will explore the African continent as a whole, from East to West and North to South considering how conflict and cooperation arise across the continent in relation to water resources.
The global water crisis is one of the world's most pressing issues and has been greatly intensified by a combination of rapidly growing global population coupled with intensified climatic change which has put great strain on water resources globally. In 1995 World Bank Vice President Ismail Serageldin stated 'If the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water' (Serageldin 1995). We are comfortably into the century in which Serageldins prediction rests and this prediction appears increasingly accurate as we are faced with increased water scarcity coupled with ever increasing demand globally.
Water the next oil? Illustration by Andrea Ucini - Source
Though, unlike oil, water exists as a fundamental and basic resource for human life, every living thing on the planet needs water. Water fuels society, the economy, the environment and without it our home, the blue marble, would cease to exist. The United Nations estimate that water use has been increasing by about 1% per year since the 1980s and this increase is expected to continue at this rate until 2050 accounting for an increase of 20-30% above current levels of water use (UN 2019). This is a global issue, 4 billion of the world's people (2/3 of the world population) face severe water scarcity at least one month per year (Mekonnen and Hoekstra 2016). Though this is a global challenge, Africa is the continent that appears most challenged by this problem. Not only is the continent the poorest, it also has one of the most rapidly growing populations with half of the global population growth expected by 2050 (1.3 billion out of 2.3 billion globally) occurring within Africa (UN 2019). Though Africa does have water resources they are often distributed unevenly or hard to access especially considering Africa lacks the capital, technology and 'educated manpower' (Falkenmark 1989) to harness more difficult to access water resources.
The iconic 'Blue Marble' photo taken from Apollo 17 with the African continent clearly visible (1972) - Source
54 Sovereign states currently call Africa home, Africa has 70 international rivers with every nation on the African mainland a riparian state of at least one international river (Kittisou 2007). These geographic facts make Africa a tense region in relation to the politics of water. Water scarcity can fuel conflicts (Goldenberg 2014) but can also be used as an 'instrument' of peace and cooperation (Waslekar 2017). In this blog, I will examine Africa's greatest contemporary challenge - water scarcity and the politics which flow from this water scarcity. I will explore the African continent as a whole, from East to West and North to South considering how conflict and cooperation arise across the continent in relation to water resources.
What an insightful and detailed introduction to hydropolitics in Africa. I look forward to reading your blogs regularly in the future!
ReplyDeleteThank you Rose i'm glad the blog was insightful
DeleteExcellent exploration of water's power to instigate change in Africa - the metaphor of water as an instrument is inspired. Keen to hear more from you Oliver, I think some interesting case studies will make this topic soar!
ReplyDeleteThank you Charlie - I agree more case studies will definitely illuminate the argument - more case studies to follow in subsequent blogs
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