With 15 international river basins, southern Africa relies on water as a driver of economic growth and social development. Climate change is expected to increase water variability and lead to more frequent and intense floods and droughts while regional constraints imposed by the management of Tran boundary.
Waters make the water landscape more complex. The World Bank is scaling up support to water resources management in the region to provide a platform for broad-based economic development.
Water supply for growth centers and the institutional and infrastructure capacity to build resilience to climate change. To strengthen the quality and impact of projects, and leverage investment and policy dialogue the World Bank, through the WPP, brings innovation in water resources management.
The Water Partnership Program (WPP) supports a coordinated approach to this regional challenge. WPP-funded study found that nearly €1.8 billion in investments to curb pollution is needed to comply with EU standards. The study also identified six pollution hotspots in the eastern Adriatic that will require around €400 million in priority investments. These investments, aimed at addressing the sea's major economic, environmental and coastal management challenges, are now being planned through the Adriatic Sea Environment Program (ASEP), to be funded by several regional stakeholders.
Emad Mahgoub