Transboundary rivers...a file at the focus of the African debate

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The issue of transboundary water and rivers returned to the forefront of the African debate, today, Sunday, during Egypt’s hosting of the eighth mid-year coordination meeting of the African Union and the regional economic blocs, in the city of New Alamein.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi participated in the opening session of the meeting, which discussed the progress made on the African Union’s 2026 theme, which is “ensuring the sustainable availability of water and safe sanitation systems to achieve the goals of the 2063 Agenda.” The meeting also addresses enhancing integration between regional economic blocs and activating the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.

In his speech during the session, Sisi stressed that cooperation in managing transboundary rivers must be based on the rules of international law, consultation, coordination and good neighbourliness, while adhering to the principle of not harming other countries. He said that every country has the right to development and to benefit from its natural resources, provided that this right is exercised in a responsible manner that does not harm other countries.

He also called for dealing with cross-border issues through cooperation and dialogue, within the framework of a broader African trend to enhance the management of shared water resources.

What is meant by cross-border rivers is rivers and water basins that extend across the territory of more than one country, such that the country through which part of the river passes is not the only country affected by what happens in it.

Constructing a dam, changing water flows, or establishing a major project on a river course in one country could have impacts on other countries that share the river or its basin.

Therefore, managing shared water resources has become an issue that transcends the borders of each country, especially on a continent with a large number of shared basins and rivers.

The African Union attaches special importance to the water file during the year 2026, after adopting the topic “Ensuring the sustainable availability of water and safe sanitation systems to achieve the goals of the 2063 Agenda.” The Union emphasizes that many of Africa's rivers and lakes cross national borders, making regional cooperation an essential element in managing these resources.

The Nile River is one of the most prominent transboundary rivers in Africa.

According to the Nile Basin Initiative, the Nile Basin extends across 11 countries: Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and Eritrea.

The initiative states that Eritrea is participating as an observer, while the Nile Basin Initiative includes 10 member states.

The Nile Basin extends over an area of ​​approximately 3.2 million square kilometers and includes more than 257 million people, while the river system consists of two main branches: the White Nile and the Blue Nile, along with other tributaries such as the Sobat River and the Atbara River.

The Blue Nile comes from Ethiopia, while the sources of the White Nile are linked to areas in the Great Lakes region, before its tributaries meet to form the course of the Nile, which heads north to the Mediterranean Sea.

This wide expanse is one of the reasons for the complexity of managing the Nile Basin, as its countries’ water needs intertwine with agriculture, energy, population, development, and climate change.

One of the important basins in West Africa is the Niger River Basin.

The basin includes several countries, including Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Benin and Côte d'Ivoire, in addition to Cameroon and Chad, according to data from African water basin management institutions.

The Niger River crosses large areas of West Africa, and represents an important source of water, agriculture, and economic activity in countries whose populations depend on its resources.

For this reason, the countries concerned have established institutions for cooperation in the management of the basin, including the Niger Basin Authority, with the aim of coordinating the use of shared water resources and associated projects.

In Central Africa comes the Congo River Basin, which extends across a huge area and is shared by a number of countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia and South Sudan.

The Congo Basin is one of the largest river basins in Africa, and is linked to a vast ecosystem and forests, which makes its management linked not only to water, but also to agriculture, energy, forests, and biodiversity.

In southern and eastern Africa, the Zambezi River Basin appears, which is shared by eight countries: Angola, Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Malawi, and Tanzania.

The residents of these countries depend on the river and its resources in various fields, including agriculture and hydroelectric energy, which makes coordination between the countries of the basin important when establishing projects or dealing with changes in water flow.

As for the Volta River Basin, it is linked to five countries: Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Togo, and Ghana.

Basin countries cooperate through the Volta Basin Authority to manage shared water resources and enhance coordination between them.

The transboundary river system in Africa is not limited to the Nile, Niger, Congo, Zambezi and Volta.

There are also shared basins and rivers such as the Senegal, Gambia, Orang-Senko, Limpopo, and Okavango, in addition to the Lake Chad Basin, whose resources are shared by several countries in the Sahel and Central Africa.

Specialized data on African basins show that the management of these resources depends in many cases on inter-state bodies and committees, with the aim of coordinating water flows, projects, infrastructure, and responding to floods and other risks.

The basic problem is that a single river may be a source of water, agriculture, and energy for several countries at the same time.

The country located upstream may see the water resource as an opportunity for development, electricity production, and agricultural expansion, while the downstream countries are interested in ensuring the continuity of water flows and its arrival in the quantities and timings they need.

Hence the importance of agreements, consultation mechanisms, and information exchange between the Basin countries.

The African Union points out that managing transboundary waters requires strengthening regional cooperation, given that many African rivers and lakes are shared between multiple countries.

For Egypt, the Nile remains the most prominent example of the complexities of transboundary rivers.

Egypt is located at the end of the Nile's course, while the main sources and branches of the river are located outside its territory, which makes cooperation with the basin countries an essential part of managing the water resource.

This is why Sisi spoke at the El Alamein meeting that cooperation in managing transboundary rivers must be based on international law, consultation, coordination, good neighborliness, and not harming other countries, in a broader context of talking about managing shared resources on the continent.

While each river basin differs from the other in geography, needs, and the nature of relations between its countries, the common denominator among them is the same: water does not know the political borders drawn by countries, and therefore its management requires cooperation that transcends those borders.