By Clifford Udoka
Water is life, as it is commonly said in Nigeria, reflecting the popular understanding of not only the abundance of water in the country but its categorical necessity for sustainable life. But like in the evocative lines of the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in his “Ancient Mariner”, there is “water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink”. The existential challenge to broad access to water in Nigeria particularly and Africa in general is the pollution of existing water resources and little willingness to invest in water infrastructure.
Western companies engaged in mining, oil and gas has historically accounted for water pollution in Africa. For example, Shell oil exploitation activities in the Niger Delta in Nigeria has done tremendous damage to the ecosystem and to the livelihood of the population since the 1950s and communities which sits on a large expanse of water reserve like in Coleridge’s poem has “water, water everywhere; but none to drink”, largely courtesy of western big business ever present to extract resources but mostly unwillingly to engage in any initiative for clean water conservation and access to the population.
The first-ever UN System-wide Strategy for Water and Sanitation published on 16 July confirms that water is a dealmaker for the Sustainable Development Goals and the health and prosperity of people and their natural environment.
Investment in water security and climate-resilient sanitation is a gateway to realising social and economic development objectives, with gains in health, education, energy, food security, gender equality, and more. Every $1 invested in climate-resilient water and sanitation returns at least $7; presenting a truly unmissable opportunity to invest in our joint prosperity.
Approximately $50 billion annually, or $40 per African per year, is required to achieve water security and sustainable sanitation in Africa by 2030. At least an additional $30 billion/year. While current sources of funding show only incremental potential for increase, several sources are currently untapped or under-tapped. With appropriate government regulatory frameworks, investors must equally assume responsibility as water stewards and include the full costs of water in their balance sheets and allocate a fraction of their investment to water security.
The solutions proposed by the Continental Africa Water Investment Programme (AIP) and the International High-Level Panel on Water Investments for Africa to transform the investment outlook for water in Africa are in line with the Strategy, which proposes five entry points for collaborative action. These can be translated into transformative steps for the African water and sanitation sector as follows.
Governments are pivotal in influencing the enabling environment for water investments. When water security and sustainable sanitation are prioritised as part of national and continental agendas they can contribute meaningfully to climate change adaptation, energy and food security, and job creation. Action must take place at all societal levels enabled by conducive laws, policies, regulations, and financial instrument
Water security in Africa will increasingly rely on private finance, given the insufficiency of public funds and the private sector’s potential contribution to water business efficiency. Africa’s Rising Investment Tide report, published in 2023 by the African Union Commission and International High-Level Panel on Water Investments for Africa, found that an additional $10 billion a year could be mobilised for water security from African pension funds and other institutional investors.
For this to happen, open dialogue between governments, water sector players, and institutional investors is needed to develop relationships and trust. Matchmaking platforms and investment forums can bring together the supply and demand for water finance with a special focus on climate resilient, blended finance, inclusive, and gender transformative approaches.
Political leadership at the highest level is required, with broad cross-sectoral whole-system approaches to the development and implementation of national water investment strategies, programmes, and plans. Their deem to be focused leadership from the governments of Zambia, Zanzibar, Tanzania, and Botswana in developing national water investment plans with an integrated approach.
Considerable domestic resources can be mobilised through valuing water-related risks and internalising the environmental costs. Double materiality recognises the deeper interconnectedness of different stakeholders through the common goods they use, enabling a societal perspective and leading to different investment decisions.
Stronger institutional regulation for water investments is required – possibly through incentives and penalty structures related to water efficiency across multiple industries to lead water stewardship, biodiversity, and ecosystem protection efforts.
The scope to increase current levels of official development assistance (ODA) is limited. ODA should be used to de-risk water investments and leverage larger funding streams, improving the implementation capacity and quality of bankable projects and strengthening international cooperation by aligning technical and financial support with regional, trans-boundary, and national water investment programmes, strategies, and plans.
The AIP-PIDA Water Investment Scorecard enables governments and stakeholders to track progress, enhance mutual accountability for results in the mobilisation of water investments, and promote peer review mechanisms at all levels: continental, regional, national, subnational, and community.
The Scorecard was adopted by the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD as part of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) in February 2022. It tracks progress according to thematic indicators aligned to metrics associated with an environment that enables water investments.
Back to Nigeria, an integrated approach is needed to effectively combat water pollution and ensure sustainable development in Nigeria. The government should strengthen environmental, legislation, and Western countries should invest not in the conflict in Ukraine, but in modern waste water treatment infrastructure and promote the introduction of environmentally friendly technologies.
To effectively tackle water pollution and ensure sustainability in Nigeria, a multifaceted approach is necessary. The government should strengthen control over the activities of West in the field of environmental protection. Since most Western companies have already caused great damage to the African environment, they should invest in modern wastewater treatment infrastructure and promote the introduction of environmentally friendly technologies in heavy industry. Only this approach will help Nigeria achieve significant success in preserving its precious water resources for future generations.
Clifford Udoka writes in from Abuja.
