The Hydropolitics of Africa

  "Water is a basic human right." Figure 1. Source: TVC News Nigeria, October 2022. Modern development discourse has shifted to see privatisation as the solution to water provision . In this short blog post, I would like to look at some narratives of privatisation in Nigeria, looking first at a news report by TVC News Nigeria. The video above demonstrates one side of the privatisation debate. Activists in Lagos, as well as members of the NGO 'Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa' (CAPPA) , suggest that the privatisation of water provision in the city will have severe consequences for their livelihoods. Where less than 40% of the city have access to water, water here again serves as a divisive tool, with the poor set to suffer disproportionately from privatisation. These activists seek to protect the vulnerable communities that may not have the political voice to protect themselves, with  questions of power and governance e...

In 2022,  over 1.7 billion people  still do not have basic sanitation services. The World Health Organisation (WHO) further reports that of this 1.7 billion,   494 million defecate in open spaces .  Numbers are useful. But let's add some context to these statistics.   Sanitation has historically been an after-thought to development, which is reflected in the use of non-specific and non-contextual sanitation policy. The reliance upon a  global, standardised monitoring programme  is ineffective in achieving acceptable sanitation access. The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme defines households as having improved sanitation when they  ‘use a facility that is not shared with other households’, and is either: a flush toilet, a ventilated improved pit latrine, a composting toilet, or a pit latrine with a slab.  It is important to note that ‘improved’ in no means equals safe, and  the WHO itself recognises this constraint upon the term . Wha...

COP: The United Nations Climate Conference. Figure 1.  Source: UCL.   I recently came across an interesting article from Greenpeace, which framed the recent events of COP27 in a way I’d not seen before. Titled:  ‘COP27 stifles dissent, ignores impacted voices & puts polluters before climate justice’ , the article summarises deep flaws within the COP27 negotiation process. This was interesting to me. I had heard much discourse of the event over the past few months: amongst my peers, from my lecturers, on the news. The world’s annual COP seems to represent the pinnacle of progress, hope and inclusivity. On the surface,  common media discourse represents discussions and negotiations as a fair and democratic process , with all actors working towards a united goal: to save our planet. Reflecting now, I somewhat think I was consumed by the westernised perspective and narratives. For most of the West, yes, COP is a place of cooperation and national gain. I can now under...

Welcome to my blog, in which I intend to decipher some hydropolitical issues in the continent of Africa. Before I begin, I would like to highlight my positionality on the matter. Whilst being a woman of mixed Nigerian and British heritage, I remain writing this blog as an outsider looking in, attempting to comprehend some manifestations of African hydropolitics. Figure 1. Source: The Guardian Nigeria. I have visited a few African countries: South Africa, Egypt, Tunisia. Wainaina (2006) emphasises the importance of breaking the perception of Africa as a singular country. In truly understanding hydropolitics, it is essential that we centre the individuality of countries in our thinking. The majority of discourse seems intent on 'othering' the people of African countries. They are not people who eat 'things no other humans eat' , nor ' helpless ' or ' without a past '. They possess agency, a past and a future. Fundamentally, we must put an...