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Marseille - A failure to invest in water infrastructure is
holding back the economies of many sub-Saharan countries, said African
Ministers' Council on Water (Amcow) executive secretary Bai-Mass Taal.
“In sub-Saharan Africa, we are unable to convince them that
giving money for water is an economic investment; that you will get your money
back,” he told Sapa, speaking at the World Water Forum (WWF) in Marseille, France.
“They cannot see it. What they can see is that when they
give agriculture money, use fertilisers, and then sell the produce, then
something comes back.
“Now we are telling them that water is an economic
commodity. Every dollar (US) spent on water, you can get from $6 to $12 in
return.”
Taal said many African countries were spending “too much
money” on health.
“In sub-Saharan Africa, over 60% of hospital beds are
occupied by patients with water-borne diseases… If you invest in water, you are
reducing your medical bill.”
Amcow had started a dialogue with African finance ministers
“so they will know that water is the backbone of their economic development”.
He said water was the “driving force” for economic
development in Africa - not only the provision of drinking water, but for
agriculture as well as hydroelectric power.
Taal cited the example of South Africa's multi-billion rand
investment in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, from which water is
being used to fuel economic development in Gauteng,
Asked if he thought a rocky road lay ahead for sub-Saharan
Africa, he said policies in many of the region's countries were changing.
“Policies are changing… We know that we are only using about 8% of our water resources in Africa… We have to use the rest for
development.
“We hope that, by 2040, we will have achieved the master
plan that has been drawn for Africa.
“It's going to be bumpy, but it's not gloomy,” he said.
South Africa's Water Minister Edna Molewa said it had
become apparent there was “very little coordination” between what was said at
Amcow meetings and what was being done in some sub-Saharan countries.
Molewa is the current president of Amcow.
Speaking to Sapa on Thursday, shortly before leaving
Marseille to return home, she said that as president she had realised “there
has been very little coordination and reporting back in our countries of
origin, when we return from meetings.
“For me, that's actually the biggest problem, because even
after attending a meeting as a minister… when you return, you do not report or
engage with colleagues to get plans embodied and infused in your local
programmes.”
This had resulted in a lack of funding, a lack of buy-in on
the ground, a lack of coordination and a lack of delivery, Molewa said.
Among the resolutions adopted by Amcow at the forum is one
to call finance ministers to attend their meetings.
Africa is one of the key focus area at the WWF, which ends on Friday. An estimated 350 million people on the continent do not have access to safe drinking water and 450 million are without sanitation.
