Percent of total population


Thousand people


Chapter 2: State and Trends


2.3.1 Introduction


The availability of freshwater in Africa is uneven in distribution and prone to unreliable rainfall patterns. The availability varies according to climatic conditions, with tropical countries having large rivers and lakes while arid countries depend on groundwater, of which considerable amounts are largely untapped. The majority of countries in the arid and semi-arid North and Southern Africa sub- regions have lower per person internal renewable freshwater levels than the rest of the continent as Figure 2.3.1 shows. With an average annual per person consumption of 31 cubic metres, Africa uses much less water than regions such as North America, which consumes 221 cubic metres per person per year (UNESCAP 2007). Agriculture and domestic consumption are the biggest users of freshwater in Africa, though there is great potential for using the resource for hydropower generation, with 90 per cent of the region’s realizable hydropower capacity as yet undeveloped (IEA 2013).


Africa’s expanding economies are resulting in greater demands for freshwater, but its quantity and quality are decreasing as a result of over-exploitation, climate change and pollution, while the growing population means that average internal renewable water resources will continue to dwindle. The proportion of the population served with clean water is increasing in proportional terms, from 64 per cent in 2005 to 68 per cent in 2012 (Figure 2.3.2) (UNEP 2015), although absolute numbers of population without safe drinking water remain high. More than half of the population in sub-Saharan Africa still does not have any access to improved sanitation, compared to 90 per cent coverage in North Africa, with a vast difference between urban areas (which are better served) and rural areas (AMCOW 2012). African megacities such as Cairo, Kinshasa and Lagos, and emerging megacities such as Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg and Luanda, face challenges from poor management of sanitation services due to inadequate and deteriorating infrastructure resulting from underinvestment. This has contributed to prolific unsanitary activities such as open defecation, and poor solid waste and wastewater disposal


resulting in high pollutant loads of heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants and biological contaminants in water resources.


Land-based activities causing pollution of freshwater bodies ultimately impact coastal and marine resources. Africa’s


Figure 2.3.2: Africa’s access to drinking water, 2005–2012 Figure 2.3.2a


800k 600k 400k 200k


0k


Years Africa


Figure 2.3.2b


80 60 40 20


0


Years Africa


Source: World Bank 2016 57


2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012


2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

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