InternationalWater Policy Project

Donor activity in transboundary water cooperation in AfricaResults of a G8-initiated survey 2004-2007

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At the 2002 Kananaskis/Canada Summit, the Heads of State and Government of eight major industrialised countries (G8) and the representa-tives of the European Union met with African Leaders and agreed to the G8 Africa Action Plan. In this action plan, G8 member states committed themselves to assist African efforts to promote the productive and environmentally sustainable development of water resources. In November 2003, Germany invited G8 representatives and African water experts to exchange views on trans-boundary water cooperation. At this workshop in Berlin, participants welcomed Germany’s initiati-ve to review the engagement of the G8 member states and other important donors in the fi eld of

transboundary water cooperation in Africa. It was envisaged that the results would help to identify needs at basin levels and bottlenecks of effective cooperation.

German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) was mandated by the German Ministry for Econo-mic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) to carry out a survey of donor activity in the fi eld of transboundary water cooperation in Africa. This brochure presents its major fi ndings. The survey itself remains work in progress as fi nancial commitments and the focus of donors change over time.

1 Background to the survey

(source: Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database, 2000)

International River Basins of Africa

The survey was designed to provide information on the regional and thematic focus of the rele-vant donors as well as fi nancial fl ows to specifi c basins and aquifers. The results should be used to:

• identify over/under funded basins,• identify over/under funded partner organisations,• identify fi elds of duplicated work,• identify gaps in aid delivery,• facilitate initiatives for “delegated cooperation”,• identify basins with a high demand for effective donor coordination,• facilitate common missions and coordinated analytical work, and to• facilitate donor coordination on the ground by giving general background information.

GTZ carried out the survey in several steps. In 2004, a questionnaire was sent to all G8 member states. In 2005, the collected data was presented to the informal donors’ group on transboundary waters at a meeting in Stockholm. Following this meeting, the group invited other important do-nors to participate in the survey. In August 2006, the survey results were presented to the donors’ group at a meeting in Stockholm. Thereafter, the data was updated and edited for publication.

The consensus among donors was that the survey should provide an overview of the activities, a lean questionnaire should be utilised and the questions should be easily answered without intensive research. As a result, approximate data and not absolute fi gures were made available. Therefore, the numbers provided give only an indication of the scale of fi nancial contributions.

As most of the data were collected in 2005, the 2006-2007 data are preliminary estimates. They show whether donor support is on the increase, decrease or not yet known.

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Bilateral Donors

1 Canada (CA)

2 Denmark (DK)

3 France (FR)

4 Germany (DE)

5 Italy (IT)

6 Netherlands (NL)

7 Norway (NO)

8 Sweden (S)

9 Switzerland (CH)

10 United Kingdom (UK)

11 United States of America (USA)

Multilateral Donors

12 African Development Bank (AfDB)

13 European Commission (EC)

14 Global Environment Facility (GEF)

15 UN Development Programme (UNDP)

16 World Bank (WB)

Table 1: Data from the following donors were used for this survey

2 Survey design

3 Main findings

I. Donors diversify their support for river and lake basins

Table 2: River and lake basins supported, per donor (2005)

Most donors are engaged in four or more basins. France is active in eleven, Sweden and the World Bank in eight basins. These three donors provide the most widespread support to river and lake basins.

The Nile basin receives the most support. Few donors support the basins Okavango, Ruvuma, Komoe, Pungwe, Gambia and Lake Tanganyika.

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BASIN AfDB CA CH DE DK EC FR IT NL NO S UK UNDP* USA WB*

Nile

Zambezi

Senegal

Niger

Limpopo

Lake Chad

Orange-Senqu

Volta

Incomati

Lake Malawi

Lake Victoria

Okavango

Ruvuma

Lake Tanganyika

Congo**

Komoe

Pungwe

Gambia

* GEF supports projects in transboundary water cooperation, which are implemented by UNDP, UNEP or World Bank. For this reason, GEF’s support can be found under the headings of the World Bank and UNDP.** In 2006, Germany has started a programme on transboundary water management in the Congo Basin. The African Development Bank also finances a project through the African Water Facility.

II. Donors primarily support large basins

Table 3: Financial support for river and lake basins

Note: One donor per bullet* Financial contribution not available for one or more donors active in this basin** Sub-basin of Nile Basin

BASIN 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Nile*

Zambezi*

Senegal

Niger

Lake Chad

Limpopo*

Lake Malawi

Lake Victoria

Okavango*

Orange-Senqu*

Volta

Pungwe

Incomati*

Ruvuma

Gambia

Mara Basin**

Congo

Lake Tanganyika

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Legendup to 250.000 Euro250.000 to 500.000 Euro500.000 to 1.000.000 Euro1.000.000 to 2.000.000 Euromore than 2.000.000 Euro

amount increasingamount decreasingamount unknown

Financial support from donors concentrates on larger river basins with high population densities. Though only approximate data on donor alloca-tions was collected, the survey shows that most financial contributions are allocated to the Nile,

Niger, Senegal and Zambezi basins. Moreover, support for transboundary water cooperation has significantly increased since 2002. This is indica-ted by the volume of funds allocated to and the number of donors engaged in these basins.

This table reveals two trends: First, per basin in general, donors concentrate on supporting the same organisation. Only in the Limpopo, Incomati, Volta and Okavango basins, donors

support two organisations at the same time. Second, the Nile Basin Initiative is by far the most intensely supported, both in terms of the number of donors and the volume of funding.

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III. Focus on well-established river basin organisations

* financial contribution not available for one or more donors active in this basin** sub-basin of Nile Basin

Legend

up to 250.000 Euro250.000 to 500.000 Euro500.000 to 1.000.000 Euro1.000.000 to 2.000.000 Euromore than 2.000.000 Euro

amount increasingamaount decreasingamount unknown

one donor per bullet

BASIN RIVER AND LAKE BASIN ORGANISATIONS

LimpopoLIMCOM/LWC LRC JPCC JPTC JWC LBPTC TPTC

IncomatiJVVC TPTC KOBWA JWC (RSA-SWA) JWC (RSA-MOZ)

Lake ChadLCBC BCSP CNMC NNJC

Orange-SenquORASECOM LHDA LHWC PWC

VoltaVBTC VBA (2006) VRA VBO

Lake VictoriaLVBC CLVD LVFO

NileNBI PJTC

OkavangoOKAKOM OBSC

ZambeziZRA ZAMCOM

NigerNBA (RNC)

SenegalOMVS

Lake MalawiLMNN Comm.

RuvumaSADC *

GambiaOMVG

CongoCICOS (2006)

Table 4: Financial support for river and lake basin organisations (2005)

Legend

up to 250.000 Euro250.000 to 500.000 Euro500.000 to 1.000.000 Euro1.000.000 to 2.000.000 Euromore than 2.000.000 Euro

Notes: One donor per bullet Data not fully consistent with table 3 due to incomplete data provided The acronyms of the river and lake basin organisations are listed on page 11* Support to SADC because a basin organisation does not yet exist

* fi nancial contribution not available for one or more donors active in this basin** sub-basin of Nile Basin

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IV. SADC main recipient amongst regional and pan-African institutions

Amongst pan-African and regional institutions, donors support SADC, ECOWAS, ANBO and AMCOW in the area of transboundary water

cooperation. This table shows that SADC is by far the main recipient of donor support.

Table 5: Financial support for regional and pan-African institutions

INSTITUTION 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

SADC

ECOWAS

ANBO

AMCOW

Legendup to 250.000 Euro250.000 to 500.000 Euro500.000 to 1.000.000 Euro1.000.000 to 2.000.000 Euromore than 2.000.000 Euro

amount increasingamount decreasingamount unknown

V. High number of unsupported basins

The survey of donor activity in transboundary water cooperation in Africa demonstrated that donors support 17 out of 59 transboundary basins in Africa. This means that at the present time the majority of basins do not receive donor support. In allocating their fi nancial contributi-ons, donors follow two trends: First, less support

is granted to basins that encompass fragile ripa-rian countries, e.g. Congo , Gash, Juba Shibeli. Second, where there is a river basin organisation, there is a greater chance of donor support.

Note: One donor per bullet

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VI. Donors concentrate on Integrated Water Resources Management

Table 6: Fields of activity - river and lake basins (2005)

Basin Political, legal and financial frameworks

Institutional strengthening of basin or-ganisations

Management instruments

Developing IWRM plans

Conflict management

Social change instruments

Other

Nile EC, FR, DE, NL, NO, S, UNDP, USA, WB

AfDB, CA, EC, FR, DE, NL, NO, S, UNDP, USA, WB

CA, DK, EC, IT, NL, NO, S, UNDP, USA

AfDB, DK, FR, DE, NO, S, USA

DE, NL, NO, S, UNDP, USA

NL, NO, UNDP

AfDB, CA, S, USA, WB

Niger DK, EC, FR, UNDP, USA, WB

AfDB, CA, EC, FR, UNDP, USA, WB

EC, FR, UNDP, USA, WB

CA, FR, UNDP, WB

UNDP, USA, WB

CA, UNDP DK

Senegal AfDB, EC, FR, NL, UNDP, USA, WB

AfDB, EC, FR, NL, UNDP, USA, WB

EC, FR, NL, UNDP, USA, WB

AfDB, CA, FR, NL, UNDP

NL, UNDP, WB

NL, UNDP

Lake Chad EC, FR, DE, UNDP, WB

EC, FR, DE, UNDP, WB

EC, FR, DE, UNDP

UNDP DE, UNDP UNDP WB

Zambezi CA, DK, NO, S, WB

DK, NO, S CA, DK, FR, NO, S

NL, NO, S S, WB CA, NO, S CA, S, USA

Orange-Senqu EC, FR, DE, UNDP

EC, FR, DE EC, FR, DE, UNDP

FR, DE, UNDP

DE

Okavango FR, S, UNDP FR, S, UNDP, USA

FR, S, UNDP, USA

FR, UNDP UNDP, USA UNDP UNDP

Volta EC, FR, S AfDB, EC, FR, S

EC, FR, S DE

Lake Victoria NO, S, WB NO, S, WB NO, S, WB CA, WB S S

Lake Malawi USA S, CH, USA S, CH CA, S, USA CH CH

Limpopo DE DE, IT, S DE, IT DE, IT DE, IT DE, IT FR

Pungwe S S S S S S S

Congo (2006) DE DE DE DE DE AfDB

Incomati CH CH, NL CH

Ruvuma CH DE, CH CH AfDB

Gambia AfDB AfDB

Lake Tanganyika AfDB AfDB

Donors concentrate their support on the same basins with the same activtities. Common fields of activities are components of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM): political, legal and financial frameworks, institutional

strengthening of basin organisations, and ma-nagement instruments. Less support is provided for the areas of conflict management and social change.

Note: No information on activities was provided for the Komoe basin

VII. Limited support for groundwater management

AQUIFER/BASIN 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Northwest SaharaAquifer

Kalahari Aquifer

Volta Basin

Limpopo Basin

NubianSandstone Aquifer

Lake Chad Basin

Table 7: Financial support for groundwater management

Legendup to 250.000 Euro250.000 to 500.000 Euro500.000 to 1.000.000 Euro1.000.000 to 2.000.000 Euromore than 2.000.000 Euro

amount increasingamount decreasingamount unknown

In Africa, there are at least 38 transboundary aquifer systems. Groundwater management is supported in six basins with very limited fi nancial commitments. This table shows further that do-nor support has been stagnant at low levels over

the years. Since 2006-2007, new initiatives have been started in the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer and the Lake Chad basin. In general, support for groundwater management is currently no priority for donors.

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Aquifer/Basin Political, legal and fi nancial frameworks

Institutional strenghtening of basin or-ganisations

Management instruments

Developing IWRM plans

Confl ict management

Social change instruments

Other

Northwest Sahara Aquifer

FR, CH FR, CH AfDB, FR, CH

CH

Nubian Sand-stone Aquifer

UNDP UNDP UNDP UNDP UNDP UNDP

Lake Chad Basin

DE DE

Kalahari Aquifer DE

Note: No information was provided for the Limpopo and Volta basins

Table 8: Fields of activity – groundwater management (2005)

Owing to limited support, few activities in groundwater management are being supported. In groundwater management, donors focus on institutional strengthening of basin organisations

and developing managing instruments, such as water resources assessment, developing regulato-ry instruments or the exchange of information.

Note: One donor per bullet

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4 The way forward

The informal donors’ group on transboundary waters recommended discussions with African partners on whether the survey should be conti-nued and, if so, by whom. Points to be discussed include questions concerning, how can African partners benefit from the information provided? How can the results be used for a more effective aid delivery? What information is still missing? Could the survey be expanded to cover other regions?

The next meeting of the informal donor consul-tations on transboundary waters will take place during the World Water Week in August 2007 in Stockholm.

AQUIFER/BASIN BASIN ORGANISATIONS

Lake Chad BasinLCBC (2006) BCSP CNMC NNJC

KalahariAquifer

Namibian Dep. of Water Affairs

CLVD LVFO

Northwest SaharaAquifer

OSS (2006) PJTC

Nubian SandstoneAquifer

OSS (2006) CFN

Notes: One donor per bullet No information was provided for the Limpopo and Volta basins The acronyms of the basin organisations are listed on page 11

Table 9: Financial support for groundwater management, per basin organisation (2005)

Legendup to 250.000 Euro250.000 to 500.000 Euro500.000 to 1.000.000 Euro1.000.000 to 2.000.000 Euromore than 2.000.000 Euro

amount increasingamount decreasingamount unknown

A small number of basin organisations are being supported with regard to groundwater manage-ment with limited financial contributions. Apart from the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS), each organisation is supported by just one donor.

Since there are very few transboundary aquifer organisations yet in Africa, donors have not many organisations which they can directly support.

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5 Acronyms

6 ImprintPublisherDeutsche Gesellschaft fürTechnische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbHPO Box 518065726 EschbornGermanywww.gtz.deResponsibleDr. Franz-Josef BatzEditorsIngo BaumMijako Nierenköther

Design/LayoutCombi-Nations GbRDr. Peter GerdesE info@combi-nations.dePrintW.B. Druckerei, HochheimPlace and year of publicationEschborn, June 2007

AMCOW African Ministers’ Council on WaterANBO African Network for Basin OrganizationsBCSP Basin Committee for Strategic Planning (Lake Chad)CICOS Commission internationale du bassin du Congo-Oubangui-SanghaCLVD Committee for Lake Victoria Development CNMC Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission (Lake Chad)ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States JPCC Joint Permanent Commission for Cooperation (Limpopo)JPTC Joint Permanent Technical Commission/Committee (Limpopo)JWC Joint Water Commission (Incomati, Limpopo)KOBWA Komati Basin Water Authority (Incomati)LBPTC Limpopo Basin Permanent Technical Committee LCBC Lake Chad Basin CommissionLHDA Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (Orange-Senqu)LHWC Lesotho Highlands Water Commission (Orange-Senqu)LIMCOM/ LWC Limpopo Watercourse CommissionLMNN Lake Malawi-Niassa-NyasaLRC Limpopo River Basin CommissionLVBC Lake Victoria Basin CommissionLVFO Lake Victoria Fisheries OrganizationNBA Niger Basin Authority; formerly the Niger River Commission (RNC)NBI Nile Basin InitiativeNNJC Nigerian-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation (Lake Chad)OBSC Okavango Basin Steering CommitteeOKACOM Permanent Okavango River Basin CommissionOMVG Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du fl euve GambieOMVS Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du bassin du fl euve SénégalOSS Sahara and Sahel ObservatoryORASECOM Orange-Senqu River CommissionPJTC Permanent Joint Technical Commission (Nile)PWC Permanent Water Commission (Orange-Senqu)RNC Republican National Committee (Niger)SADC South African Development CommunityTPTC Tripartite Permanent Technical Commission (Incomati)VBA Volta Basin AuthorityVBO Volta Basin OrganizationVBTC Volta Basin Technical. CommitteeVRA Volta River AuthorityZAMCOM Zambezi Watercourse CommissionZRA Zambezi River Authority

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH

Dag-Hammarskjöld - Weg 1 – 565760 Eschborn / DeutschlandT + 49 61 96 79 - 0F + 49 61 96 79 - 11 15E info@gtz.deI www.gtz.de