Moïse Mbengue, Makane; Odili, Nwamaka --- "West African approaches to international water law and treaty practice" [2019] ELECD 82; in McCaffrey, C. Stephen; Leb, Christina; Denoon, T. Riley (eds), "Research Handbook on International Water Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 361

Book Title: Research Handbook on International Water Law

Editor(s): McCaffrey, C. Stephen; Leb, Christina; Denoon, T. Riley

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781785368073

Section: Chapter 21

Section Title: West African approaches to international water law and treaty practice

Author(s): Moïse Mbengue, Makane; Odili, Nwamaka

Number of pages: 18

Abstract/Description:

In West African, transboundary water governance has been progressive spanning from the colonial instruments to the post-colonial regimes adopted before 1990 and the post-1990 instruments following adoption of the UNECE Water Convention and the UN Watercourses Convention. Shared watercourse agreement in the region began in the 19th century with the 1885 General Act of Berlin applicable inter alia to River Niger. Since then, more agreements and treaties have been contracted for the management of some of the region’s shared watercourses particularly in the post-colonial era. Although only six of the region’s 25 shared watercourses are governed by legal instruments, West Africa has contributed to the world regime on regulation of shared watercourses. The initial instruments were primarily for access to the river for navigation and commerce; later treaties addressed the need for co-operation and building of institutions but very recent ones codify the universal principles of customary international water. Some of the instruments also reflect emerging substantive principles like common works, public participation, requirement of minimum stream flow and human right to water. The quality of transboundary water regimes in the region has improved over time particularly with influence of the UN Watercourses Convention and the UNECE Water Convention. However for sustainability of transboundary water management in West Africa, the need to address problem of non-regulation of its 19 shared watercourses cannot be overemphasised.