CIWA Cooperation in International Waters in Africa: Opportunities for Impact PARTNERSHIP FRAMEWORK The Cooperation in International Waters in Africa (CIWA) program supports the management and development of transboundary waters for sustainable development, poverty alleviation, and improved climate resilience. This document, the CIWA Partnership Framework, summarizes the current state of transboundary water management and development in Africa, the objectives and methods of the CIWA program, and opportunities for partnership.1 1. More details on the challenges, plans of African stakeholders, and CIWA strategy and programs are available in the CIWA Strategic Framework. Details of how the program runs can be found in the CIWA Operational Guidelines. B Cooperation in International Waters in Africa: Opportunities for Impact THE CHALLENGE OF TRANSBOUNDARY WATER COOPERATION IN AFRICA Water management and development play essential roles in development, underpinning the means to lift people out of poverty and reduce vulnerability to climate change. Many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) depend on managing water more effectively. Tapping into Africa’s tremendous, but currently underutilized, water resources will help improve livelihoods, strengthen water security, and fuel economic growth. WATER-RELATED SDGS AND THE STATE OF WATER IN AFRICA SDG2 SDG6 SDG7 SDG13 End hunger, achieve b 2030 Ensure availability and Ensure access to food security and Take urgent action to sustainable affordable, reliable, improved nutrition, and combat climate change management of water sustainable and modern promote sustainable and its impacts and sanitation for all. energy for all. agriculture. Much of Africa is Only 10 percent of in 2016 Less than 5 percent Only 58 percent of highly vulnerable and hydroelectric of cultivated land in Africans have access under-prepared to generation potential Africa is irrigated. to safe drinking water. cope with the impacts is utilized. of climate change. With 90 percent of Africa’s surface waters falling within 63 international river and lake basins, water management in Africa depends on cooperation that crosses borders. Collectively managing and developing water resources at the regional or basin-level can produce far-reaching benefits. When countries have shared priorities and clear methods for communicating and working together, floods can be prevented or subdued, droughts managed, ecosystems better preserved, more fields irrigated, and energy sources harnessed and delivered to people and businesses in need. Cooperation in International Waters in Africa: Opportunities for Impact 1 CIWA WORK IN AFRICA However, the ‘transboundary’ context for harnessing water’s socio-economic benefits is complex: each country has its own national objectives guided by their own political and economic interests, historical tension between countries may exist, resources and technical capacities may be uneven, and it can be very difficult to determine how to share the benefits of collective investments. Furthermore, the sheer number of parties involved – from multiple ministries in multiple countries to local governments and civil-society organizations – can make decision making complicated and time consuming. While the largest shared river basins in Africa have established River Basin Organizations (RBOs) to help unify and clarify how to collectively manage shared waters, multiple barriers to effective cooperation still exist. Despite the difficulties, countries in Africa are increasingly focusing on the importance of regional coordination in order to maximize collective development gains while also sustaining longer-term regional stability and peace. Coordination among countries is critical to: • Avoid unilateral development of projects that may have impacts on other countries; • Provide benefits beyond what individual countries could reap by acting alone; and • Ensure that benefits are harnessed sustainably and shared equitably. 2 Cooperation in International Waters in Africa: Opportunities for Impact “Countries now pool their resources to develop the watercourse and the resources of the basin, which individually they would not have been able to do.” – Major General Collins Ihekire, former Executive Secretary of the Niger Basin Authority, referring to CIWA assistance. © Sarah Farhat/World Bank Cooperation in International Waters in Africa: Opportunities for Impact 3 Increasing focus on transboundary water cooperation is driven by two inescapable long-term trends: i) growing populations, rapid urbanization, and accelerating development intensify the demand on water resources; and ii) increasing water variability driven by climate change. BENEFITS OF STRENGTHENED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT, DEVELOPMENT, AND REGIONAL COOPERATION Productivity – People Security – Sufficient Sustainability – Water and businesses are water is available over the is used sustainably and able to use water long-term, and people are equitably, ensuring that resources productively protected from floods, the needs of poor and to meet their needs. droughts, and other vulnerable people, future harmful aspects of water. generations, and the environment are met. Demand from African countries and institutions, as well as prior experiences on basins such as the Nile, led the World Bank and a group of development partners to launch CIWA in 2011. The CIWA partnership demonstrates the commitment of the international community to advance water-policy and development objectives set out by the African Union and the African Minister’s Council on Water to enable African countries to sustainably manage and develop their shared waters. CIWA IS POSITIONED TO CAPITALIZE ON EXISTING OPPORTUNITIES IN AFRICA River B sin Or ni tions The continent is motiv ted to pursue The World B nk’s expertise, (RBOs) re est blished in re ion l inte r tion, s evidenced b convenin power, nd fin nci l m jor river b sins nd incre sin coll bor tion throu h resources, s well s stron m nd ted to f cilit te re ion l economic communities like countr rel tionships, provide b sin-wide processes. ECOWAS nd SADC. stron found tion. Institution-building is a long-term process. For that reason, CIWA uses a unique business model that prioritizes multi-year support while also providing short-term resources to meet stakeholder needs in water, food, energy, navigation, and other water-dependent sectors. CIWA provides grants to a range of implementing partners including national governments, river basin organizations, regional economic communities, and civil society organizations in order to support the range of policy, coordination, and operational actors that transboundary cooperation requires. The program also provides neutral third party facilitation, technical support and analysis, as well as develops knowledge products that help to strengthen shared understanding, trust, and confidence among riparian 4 Cooperation in International Waters in Africa: Opportunities for Impact countries. Blending these instruments has led to tangible results in building transboundary cooperation throughout Africa. However, the demand for CIWA support currently outstrips supply, so opportunities for impact by both current and future partners are great. CIWA’s formal objective is to support riparian governments in Sub- Saharan Africa to unlock the potential for sustainable, climate resilient growth by addressing constraints to cooperative management and development of international waters. By 2020, the program aims to influence US$10 billion in investment financing for cooperative management and development of transboundary waters across Sub-Saharan Africa, targeting benefits for 50 million people. CIWA PROGRESS ALLOCATION OF CIWA FUNDING BY PRIMARY Of these, US$4.3 billion of OUTCOME investment financing has already been mobilized, Institutions, L r e-Sc le Inform tion, Infr structure C p cit 38% Buildin From 2011 to 53% Implementation of CIWA- 2016, CIWA influenced projects is programming underway to directly serve contributed an estimated 11 million to improving people through irrigation the quality of development, increasing transboundary power generation, Sm ll-Sc le investment rehabilitation of old Infr structure, W tershed projects with infrastructure, enhancing Restor tion 8% potential benefits rural livelihoods, extending for an estimated early warning and climate- 48 million people information systems, and and valued at supporting ecosystems US$9.9 billion. management, among others. Cooperation in International Waters in Africa: Opportunities for Impact 5 © A’Melody Lee/World Bank “CIWA comes in to help the member states think through the different development options and hopefully come up with a development trajectory that will lead to sustainability, and fairness and equity amongst all the three countries.” – Sekgowa Motsumi, Programme Coordinator, Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission 6 Cooperation in International Waters in Africa: Opportunities for Impact RESULTS TO DATE The results supported through the CIWA program in its first five years of operation are significant, and include the following: • In the Niger Basin, a Climate Resilience Investment Plan highlights regionally prioritized investment needs related to climate change adaptation in the basin to gather support for securing investment finance. Presented at COP21 in Paris in 2015, the plan is already attracting climate-related financing; the work helped mobilize a $450 million investment project. • For the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a study on sustainable financing mechanisms for the Mono Basin Authority has informed the institutional structure of this new river basin organization. As a result, ECOWAS is primed to share lessons with other basins in the region. • In the Lake Chad Basin, the Lake Chad Basin Commission and its six member states developed an action plan to turn Lake Chad into a model of regional rural development. Priority actions were identified to improve the resilience of Lake Chad livelihoods and ecosystems under current population growth pressures, hydrological variability and climate uncertainty. The plan comprises 173 activities estimated at US$1 billion. • In the Nile Basin, the Eastern Nile Council of Ministers agreed to establish a regional and individual national dam safety units following their endorsement of the Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office’s (ENTRO) regional dam safety guidelines. ENTRO’s dam safety work has been lauded as groundbreaking by the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) and was featured at the international ICOLD conference as an example of best practice. • In the Zambezi Basin, the newly established permanent Zambezi Water- course Commission (ZAMCOM) Secretariat is leading the development of a basin-level strategic plan, approved by its Council of Ministers, which will include a project prioritization process and policy tools to coordinate effi- cient management, sustainable development, and equitable utilization of the basin’s shared waters. • In the Okavango Basin, a Multi-Sector Investment Opportunity Analysis helped stakeholders identify three regionally-relevant investments (>US$400 million) that balance economic, social justice, environmental, and climate resilience priorities as reflected in the vision for the basin. Cooperation in International Waters in Africa: Opportunities for Impact 7 “CIWA can help ensure that anytime there is a discussion, policy, program, or project, that communities are also being involved, that civil society has its voice, for us to participate in a very constructive manner to the debate.” – Sena Alouka, Director, Young Volunteers for the Environment (JVE International) © Peter Kapuscinski/World Bank 8 Cooperation in International Waters in Africa: Opportunities for Impact CIWA METHODOLOGY CIWA support is provided in the following three broad categories: shared, trusted information; robust, flexible institutions; and sustainable, resilient infrastructure. INSTITUTIONS INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE CIWA helps facilitate CIWA supports critical CIWA promotes cooperative dialogue, build consensus analytical knowledge and inclusive planning of amongst variety of actors, generation that helps regionally beneficial and maintain relationships mitigate risks, highlight best investments, improving to generate new project practices, and identify investment quality and opportunities and enhance motivational drivers for expanding opportunity to project quality cooperation secure financing CIWA support for establishing shared, trusted information creates trust and confidence and enables timely, transparent, and regionally beneficial decision making. The focus on building robust, flexible institutions means countries will be prepared to manage shared risks as well as equitably share benefits. Support in this category also drives regional organizations toward financial and institutional sustainability. CIWA support helps lay the foundation for sustainable, resilient infrastructure by raising the level of professional capacity in investment planning and packaging, and by promoting inclusive stakeholder engagement throughout the project cycle. This ensures socio- economic benefits, poverty reduction, and improved gender outcomes. Knowled e Sust ined B sin Opportunistic M n ement nd En ement: En ement: Technic l Assist nce: Provides balanced support Provides targeted Generates, shares, and to strengthen information support for collaborative, manages Africa-wide systems and institutions, potentially high-impact knowledge that can facilitate improves the quality of investment opportunities. cooperative development investments. and management. Multiple Entr Points: River B sin Or ni tions, Re ion l Economic Communities, N tion l Governments, nd Civil Societ Or ni tions Cooperation in International Waters in Africa: Opportunities for Impact 9 CIWA’s services are delivered through three modes of engagement: sustained CIWA provides sustained basin engagement, opportunistic engagement, and knowledge management support in the Nile, Niger, and technical assistance. Volta and Zambezi Basins Sustained basin engagement­ —Basins are prioritized in relation to their needs, strategic importance in the region, and potential for the program’s support to CIWA supports ECOWAS to bring about transformational change. link water management with the broader economic context Opportunistic engagement—CIWA provides opportunistic support not only to in West Africa address barriers to specific opportunities for cooperation posed by knowledge gaps, socio-political challenges, and weak capacity, but also to allow countries to explore innovative collaborative mechanisms for protecting, restoring, and sustainably developing natural or built water-related infrastructure. CIWA supports SADC and IGAD in their efforts Knowledge management and technical assistance—Knowledge produced to advance groundwater will have regional, multi-basin, or Africa-wide scopes and be relevant to multiple management and sustainable basins, regions, and stakeholders, capitalizing on economies of scale. development OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTNERSHIP Halfway through its initial phase, CIWA supports activities across the African continent through a program of US$85 million. Recognizing the scale of the challenge and the potential of CIWA for impact, CIWA stakeholders have established a $200 million resource mobilization target. An expanded program will allow CIWA to address needs in areas it has so far been unable to support and enable currently assisted basins to further advance toward development objectives. CIWA’s position within the World Bank provides several advantages. As a trustee of more than $25 billion dollars annually, the World Bank ensures systematic, prudent management and oversight of entrusted funds. The Bank’s long experience in utilizing the highest levels of technical capacity, its global operational platform, as well as its deep partnerships with recipient countries and international actors lends it a unique advantage for program delivery and drives CIWA’s ability to play a catalytic role. CIWA’s unique business model – built on lessons from the Bank’s longtime experience in transboundary waters – allows CIWA to pursue the full range of possible instruments for maximal impact. Further, because the program is demand-driven, CIWA support is aligned with regional and national objectives. 10 Cooperation in International Waters in Africa: Opportunities for Impact LOOKING FORWARD Rooted in the lessons of what works, the core focus of CIWA will remain on supporting information services, strengthening institutions, and advancing quality regional investments. As the technical challenges facing the continent evolve, so will CIWA. Examples of areas of growing demand include: • Furthering informed groundwater management and development; • Advancing solutions for water conservation and enhancing basin water yield; • Building the evidence base on the importance of natural infrastructure for climate resilience; and • Protecting the integrity of environmental services. © Sarah Farhat/World Bank Cooperation in International Waters in Africa: Opportunities for Impact 11 © Flore de Preneuf/World Bank The Partnership Framework is informed by the findings of a comprehensive external mid-term review of the CIWA program in 2015, which provided useful ideas for strengthening the program, and concluded that the program is fit for purpose and has a distinct comparative advantage in facilitating cooperative water resources management and development in transboundary waters in Africa. 12 Cooperation in International Waters in Africa: Opportunities for Impact Cooperation in International Waters in Africa: Opportunities for Impact 13 Cover photo © Scott Wallace/World Bank Special thanks and appreciation are extended to the partners who support CIWA’s work to address constraints to cooperative management and development of international waters in Africa: Denmark, European Commission, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, and The World Bank. Since its inception in 2011, development partners have entrusted CIWA with over $85 million in pledges and contributions for fulfilling its mandate.