Water security in Africa: a preliminary assessment

This report summarizes the results of a preliminary assessment of water security in 54 countries in Africa using a common methodology. Ten complementary and interdependent components of national water security are considered:

1. access to drinking water,
2. access to sanitation,
3. hygiene and health,
4. water availability
5. efficiency of water use,
6. water infrastructure,
7. water quality,
8. water governance,
9. water disaster risks and
10. physiography.

The assessment reveals that the state of water-related data on just about any water issue in Africa remains ‘very poor’ despite all efforts undertaken to date. The lack of water data in Africa manifests itself so strongly that some critical components of water security simply cannot be assessed without introducing second-best surrogates.