Stockholm International Water Institute » Nile Basin

Land Acquisitions: How Will They Impact Transboundary Waters?

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:56:45 +0000

This exploratory report investigates how the current surge in land acquisitions and investments by foreign countries, sovereign wealth funds and private corporations, as well as domestic investors, will affect transboundary water management, an area where current knowledge is sparse. The majority of land deals tend to be made in places with low land lease prices, weak legislation, inexpensive labour and relative abundance of land and water and very few include regulations or agreements for water used on the acquired territories. With many of the largest land leasing countries located on the transboundary water basins, shared waters will be affected with unknown implications for regional relations. Two case illustrations in the Nile and Niger basin regions are presented to explore how land acquisitions have affected global, regional, national and local actors in those areas and point out key questions that require more research.

Report published in 2012.

South Sudan – At the Nile’s Hydropolitical Crossroads

Nora — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:50:17 +0000

On the 9th of July, 2011 the Republic of South Sudan became the newest country in the world and the 55th independent state in Africa, after a complex political process that started when the continent was experiencing its first waves of independence and lasted more than half a century. SIWIs Ana Cascao reflects on the potential effects of South Sudans independence on hydropolitics in the Nile Basin.

Article in Stockholm Water Front, issue no 2, 2011.

Regional Water Intelligence Report – The Nile Basin and the Southern Sudan Referendum

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:49:16 +0000

Regional Water Intelligence Reports The purpose of the Regional Water Intelligence Reports (RWIR) is to provide regular updates on the political economy of transboundary water resources issues, management and development. The RWIR focuses on the socio-economic aspects of water management and highlight the links between water, energy, food and human security from a regional perspective. This RWIR provides an analysis of the political landscape at the national and regional level in the Nile Basin including a political and legal analysis of the upcoming Southern Sudan referendum 2011. The objective is to prepare a base line to analyse key political events and their potential impact on Nile cooperation, within the framework of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), with a specific focus on the upcoming referendum in Southern Sudan. Some recommendations are explored that the international community could consider taking in the post referendum process to strengthen development and cooperation. The analysis of political events provides input to further analysis on the political economy of water in the Nile basin. The report does not provide a detailed overview of the NBI process to date which is provided elsewhere. Input to the RWIR is based on public referenced information and confidential interviews.