In Africa, 1 in 3 persons suffer from water scarcity and 13 African countries are critically water insecure. Most African countries are not on track to achieve the water-related SDGs. About 85.5 percent of Africa’s population does not have access to safely managed drinking water and 82 percent live without access to safely managed sanitation services. According to the Global Water Security 2023 Assessment, Africa, including the Sahel region (home to Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Eritrea, and a small part of southern Algeria), the Horn of Africa (home to countries of Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti), and parts of West Africa, is the least water-secure region of the world.
Climate change is one of the most significant drivers of water stress. It affects the world’s water resources in complex ways; through the melting of ice, rising sea levels, unpredictable rainfalls, droughts, and floods. Though Africa is a marginal contributor to global greenhouse emissions (less than 4 percent), the continent is suffering disproportionately due to climate change. According to the State of the Climate in Africa 2022 Report, the African continent is warming faster than the global average. 2019 was among the three warmest years on record for the continent. Much of Africa has already warmed by more than 1°C since 1901 and climate change is likely to intensify droughts and extreme weather events in the coming decades.
