Water Rights and Water Fights: Transboundary Water Governance in Africa

Africa is a continent of transboundary waters that has experienced various disputes over access to and rights over the shared water resources among riparian countries. This webinar focuses on the impacts of mega water diversion projects on the access to water resources, population, and ecosystems in the largest African water basins (the Congo and the Nile). The webinar aims to shed light on the role of state and non-state actors in transboundary water resources governance in Africa using interdisciplinary lenses (legal studies, economics and regional governance).

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Programme:

16:00 Introduction by Joao Teixeira de Freitas (Moderator, Brussels School of Governance, VUB)

16:05 Transboundary Water Resources in Africa: Conflict or Cooperation?

• Speaker: Afaf Rahim (Brussels School of Governance,VUB)

16:20 The Congo River Basin in the broader setting of international waterways in the SADC Region

• Speaker: Erik Franckx (Faculty of Law at VUB, Nelson Mandela University in South Africa and Belgian Society for International Law).

16:40 Private Public Partnership role in the Regional (Congo Basin- Lake Chad) Water Resource Management

• Speakers: Nidhi Nagabhatla (UNU-CRIS) & Ramazan Caner Sayan (Cranfield University)

17:00 Governing the Nile River Basin: The Search for a New Legal Regime

• Speaker: John Mukum Mbaku (Weber State University)

17:20 The Role of the State and Companies in Protecting and Respecting Water Access Rights (Comparing Nile and Congo basin Cases)

• Speaker: Liliana Lizarazo Rodriguez (Brussels School of Governance,VUB and University of Antwerp)

17:35 Q&A