Key-events on the state of water in Sudan:
■ Crises in water supplies throughout Sudan have increased noticeably in the past year. ■ The price of a barrel of water in remote neighbourhoods has risen to 100 Sudanese pounds. Key-events on the state of water in Europe: ■ 60% of European cities overexploit the resources of their groundwater. ■ 50% of wetlands are in "dangerous situation" because of overexploitation of groundwater. ■ The area of irrigated land in Southern Europe has increased by 20% since 1985. |
The Africa Water Vision 2025The 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development created
two new Pan-African entities – the “African Ministers’ Council on Water”
(AMCOW) and the “African Water Facility” (AWF) – to stress the urgent need to
address the continent’s precarious water situation.
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Water ShortagesBy
2025, no fewer than 25 of the 48 countries that are expected to be facing water
shortages will be African. This means that approximately 230 million Africans
(16% of the projected population) will be living in water-scarce areas
(<1,000 cubic meters of water/capita/year) with another 460 million (32%) in
water-stressed areas (1,000-1,700 cubic meters/capita/year). In addition to a
growing population, agriculture will also be making added demands on water
supplies. Of the total amount of water used, 85% is for agriculture,
9% is for community water supplies and 6% is for industry.
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How important is Water for Africa's Economy?
Africa is losing 5% of its GDP as a result of poor water and sanitation infrastructure, 2% to power outages, between 5%-25% to drought and floods, and perhaps a further 5% to the (future) impact of climate change. The estimated amount of investment required to meet Africa’s deficient water situation is US$ 50 billion per annum for the period from 2010 to 2030 and US$ 30 billion annually for the following thirty years. This figure significantly exceeds the US$ 20 billion originally estimated in 2000 in the Africa Water Vision 2025. There has been a near ten-fold increase in the estimated cost of water-related infrastructure to support economic growth, food and energy securities and adaptations to climate change and hazard management.
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