The Politics of Water in Africa

KEYWORDS: Colonialism, Politics, Water, Development, Southern Africa, Hegemons, Transboundary Laws, Permit systems Welcome back to part two of our analysis of the effects of colonialism on water management in Southern Africa! Inheritance of colonial laws Both internal and transboundary laws regarding water access were written by colonists during their control over the continent. As previously mentioned, local forms of social organisation and resource management were disregarded in favour of Western distribution patterns, and significantly, these laws were inherited by the newly independent African states . This usually entailed handing over control of large water management infrastructure such as dams and pipelines to the state and giving white settlers riparian rights to water. These laws took a long time to be addressed as since gaining independence states had more urgent priorities such as focusing on creating infrastructure and policies to support socio-economic development, al...

KEYWORDS: Colonialism, Politics, Development, Southern Africa, Land grabbing, Displacement, Agriculture, Urbanisation Welcome back!  These next two posts will centre around the colonial history of Southern Africa in order to understand how colonialism has affected modern-day water politics and development in the region. In this first blog, we will focus on how land grabbing and community displacement in relation to areas of water availability have affected the politics of water management and relationships between different social groups across Southern Africa.  Due to frequent resettling of native groups, water-rich land grabbing and drastic changes to patterns of resource access, Southern African states were left with significant internal and transboundary tensions post-independence . Exacerbated by water scarcity, the socioeconomic inequalities that were created during colonial rule have led to conflicts and instability across the region . Transboundary water laws themselve...

KEY TERMS: Water, development, politics, conflict, resource management, colonialism, positionality Water and Development Hello, and welcome to my blog focusing on the politics of water in Africa! Water plays a significant role in almost every aspect of our daily lives, whether visible or not, and the management of this key resource has consequences for social and economic development . Africa’s development relies heavily on its ability to effectively use its water resources and negotiate disputes over them. Access to water is first governed by the geography of the region, with riparian states having the benefit of physical proximity that has historically been important for usage rights . The unique geography of each country also impacts how water is supplied from the source to households, farms or for industrial use. These decisions around water supply have an impact on the development of certain industries – and therefore the economy of the country – but can also lead to conflict if ...