Water in Africa and future challenges

There is a general agreement by the global community on the seven challenges that face World Water Resources and their management. These challenges have been presented and agreed upon during the 2(nd) World Water Forum in The Hague, March 2000. Challenges in Africa are very similar. Rainfall intensities in Africa are diverse and available water resources do not satisfy the rising demands with population increase, and escalating development needs. Additionally, deterioration in water quality and lack of financial resources for water infrastructure put tremendous pressure on the poor and the needy. Having this in mind, decision-makers in Africa hasve established the New Partnership for Africa's Development which is a vision and program of action for the redevelopment of the African Continent. On the other hand, the newly established African Ministerial Conference on Water (AMCOW) will serve as an intergovernmental mechanism for enhancing implementation and integrating and concretizing actions. This article discuss in details the challenges facing the African Continent and suggest concrete actions for the way forward describing major initiatives in the region.