| Abstract: | Abstract Africa faces major problems in its water resources sector, manifested in the periodic droughts and floods and compounded by population growth, urbanization, and environmental degradation. Africa has a large number of shared rivers, lakes, and aquifers, and the uses and protection of most are not regulated by any agreements between the riparian states. Where such agreements exist, they do not encompass all the riparians. A number of instruments were concluded by the African leaders with the view of addressing these problems. The most recent of those instruments is “the Abuja Ministerial Declaration on Water: A Key to Sustainable Development,” which was adopted in April 2002 and which establishes the African Ministerial Conference on Water. This article reviews the water resources problems in Africa and analyzes the various attempts to address them, including the Abuja Declaration. |
