Scribd
Upload
38 views2 pages

China's Role in Solving Africa's Water Crisis

China believes that many African countries have struggled with water scarcity for too long while other countries have abundant water resources. Africa's population is increasing but access to clean water is declining due to insufficient infrastructure and funding. China has provided aid to African countries through projects like desalination plants, cross-border water projects between Ethiopia and Djibouti, and building a $500 million dam in Uganda. However, more funding is still needed, as the African Development Bank estimates $66 billion per year is required to fully address infrastructure needs and solve Africa's water crisis.

Uploaded by

peneloperosewalston
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
38 views2 pages

China's Role in Solving Africa's Water Crisis

China believes that many African countries have struggled with water scarcity for too long while other countries have abundant water resources. Africa's population is increasing but access to clean water is declining due to insufficient infrastructure and funding. China has provided aid to African countries through projects like desalination plants, cross-border water projects between Ethiopia and Djibouti, and building a $500 million dam in Uganda. However, more funding is still needed, as the African Development Bank estimates $66 billion per year is required to fully address infrastructure needs and solve Africa's water crisis.

Uploaded by

peneloperosewalston
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Committee: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Topic: African Water Scarcity


Delegation: China

China believes that African countries have dealt with the burdens of water scarcity for far too
long. While other countries, Brazil, Canada, Russia, the United States, and other countries are
living with abundant water, many African countries including Uganda, Ethiopia, and Burundi,
are struggling. Africa’s overall population has continued to increase while access to clean water
has been on a decline. Numerous African countries have water on their lands, yet lack the
sufficient infrastructures or money to use it for drinking water. Nigeria and the DRC are both
richer than many on the continent of Africa, regarding access to water. With that being true,
much of the water resources here are being wasted, contributing to the African water crisis.
These countries are not being funded enough by others across the globe, and over-population/ the
poor handling of an increasing population is causing the continent of Africa to suffer. These
issues need to be solved soon, as Cape Town and other cities are on the verge of complete loss of
water.

China has continuously lended aid towards African countries to try and fix the water crisis,
anyway possible. In 2011, China was able to desalinate around 600,000 metric tons of water, per
day. That figure was projected to be pushed to 3 million metric tons a day by 2020. China has
also funded a cross-border water project in the area between Ethiopia and Djibouti. This meant
drilling reservoirs and wells, as well as installing some pipelines. The African Bank
Development Program has estimated that the continent will need upwards of $66 billion each
year in order to build working dams, purification plants, pipelines, and other needed
infrastructure. China has given millions of dollars to the African continent, including building a
dam in Uganda which cost more than $500 million. It is apparent that China believes in aiding
Africa wherever possible, including providing funds and helping to build more adequate
infrastructure.

The key issues that we need to address, is the lack of sufficient infrastructure in Africa, as well as
over-population that is leading to pollution and waste of already scarce water. Countries that
have an abundance of natural resources should be able to lend some to the African continent.
Many wealthy countries spend millions upon millions of dollars on expanding otherwise
unnecessary things, while African countries are suffering. While China has been funding Africa
and helping extensively along the United States and few other countries, many others have not
shown many signs of aid. If we can, in total, contribute even close to the $66 billion that the
African Development Program has asked for, then the continent of Africa will begin to see
stronger infrastructure, less pollution in their water, and overall more clean water for its citizens
to drink.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26600751?seq=1
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/22/c_138248489.htm
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/water-stress-sub-saharan-africa#:~:text=Introduction,infrastruc
ture%20only%20exacerbate%20the%20problem.
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/water-and-sanitation-crisis-sub-saharan-africa/#:~:text=
Of%20the%20783%20million%20people,are%20in%20sub%2DSaharan%20Africa.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2019/03/28/poverty-in-africa-is-now-falling
-but-not-fast-enough/
https://thewaterproject.org/why-water/poverty
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/water-stress-sub-saharan-africa#:~:text=Introduction,infrastruc
ture%20only%20exacerbate%20the%20problem.

You might also like