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).

Program

Date: Thursday 14 October 2021

Time: 16:00 – 18:00 Brussels Time

16:00 Introduction

Joao Teixeira de Freitas (Moderator BSoG/VUB)

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

Afaf Rahim (BSoG/VUB)

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

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

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

Nidhi Nagabhatla (UNU CRIS) and Ramazan Caner Sayan (Cranfield University)

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

John Mukum Mbaku (Weber State University -Utah)

17:20 The Role of the State and Companies in Protecting and Respecting Water Access Rights

(Comparing Nile and Congo basin Cases)

Liliana Lizarazo Rodriguez (BSoG/VUB - University of Antwerp)

17:35 Q & A

Organized by: ERC Curiae Virides Research Project (BSoG/VUB- Belgium), in collaboration with UNU-CRIS (Belgium).