Nigeria TO Receive More Than 50% Of Global Water Fund For West African Countries

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has stated that Nigeria will receive at least 55% of the global water fund allocated to member states of the regional bloc.

Sediko Douka, ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy, and Digitization, announced at the 5th ordinary session of the Ministerial Monitoring Committee (MMC), which was meeting in Abuja to develop a Framework for the Coordination and Monitoring of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).

He stated that Nigeria’s share is based on its large population and contribution to the regional bloc’s levy.

Douka, who explained that West African states have committed to integrated water management, resulting in an action plan in 2000 and a framework in 2001, emphasised the need for a new type of water management to address water-related issues.

The ECOWAS commissioner stated that the purpose of the ministerial monitoring committee meeting was to revive cooperation and implementation of regional water policies for regional development.

Professor Terlumun Utsev, Nigeria’s Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, opened the meeting by calling on member states to work together to develop the water sector.

He said something. “To truly see growth in the sub-region, we must unite and collaborate, particularly in the management of our water resources, both surface and underground.”

Utsev emphasised that the subregion has enormous potential and that the region can only overcome its current economic situation through collaboration and partnership.

“The sub-region has a lot of potential, and by working together, we can create a region that can overcome challenges like climate change, poverty, unemployment, inequality, and so on,” the Minister stated.

Members of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), which included water resources experts from Member States and West African basin organisations, met on June 25-27, 2024, for the 11th ordinary session of the Permanent Framework for Coordination and Monitoring of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in West Africa.

The meeting aimed to revitalise the regional IWRM process by reviewing the implementation of resolutions from the 4th Ordinary Session.

The key resolutions to be produced include promoting new transboundary basin organisations, structural reform and capacity building of water resources management centres (WRMC), holding regular PCMF meetings, and establishing a regional consultation mechanism on integrated ecosystem management.

The TEC meeting will be followed by the 5th Ordinary Session of the IWRM Ministerial Monitoring Committee in West Africa, which will be held on Friday, June 28, 2024.

This session will go over the experts’ meeting reports and recommendations, such as the draft ECOWAS-WRMC Strategic Plan 2020-2030, the draft Directive on the Development of Water Infrastructure in West Africa, the draft guideline on the management of shared water resources in West Africa, the revival of the programme to promote new transboundary basin organisations in West Africa, and the operationalization of the Regional Water Observatory.