Niger Basin Authority
Encyclopedia
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
aiming to foster co-operation in managing and developing the resources of the basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
of the River Niger. The group is referred to by both French and English acronyms, NBA or ABN.
Formation
Inspired by the Tennessee Valley AuthorityTennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
, the organisation was founded in 1964 as the River Niger Commission. On 21 November 1980, it was refounded as the Niger Basin Authority.
Purpose
The Niger Basin Authority defines its purpose as the promotion of cooperation among member countries to ensure integrated development of resources. The organisation originally defined its mission as the cooperative management of water resources, most notably, but not limited to, the Niger RiverNiger River
The Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea...
. While centering of water and hydroelectric resources, the NBA nations use the orgainisation to harmonise development of energy, agriculture, forestry, transport, communications, and industrial resources of the member nations. The NBA has worked to create a "Integrated Development Plan of the Basin", especially focusing on cross boundary projects. The NBA itself has been ceded no sovereign power over resources or management, and therefore all regulation must be imposed by individual sovereign governments. While not the original focus of the NBA, environmental protection from the threats of desertification, deforestation and pollution of the rivers by agriculture and industry have become a major theme of their work.
Structure
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...
, Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
, Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
, Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
, Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
, Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
, Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
, Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
and Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. While a small area of Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
falls within the Niger Basin, it is not a member of the NBA. It is based in Niamey
Niamey
-Population:While Niamey's population has grown steadily since independence, the droughts of the early 1970s and 1980s, along with the economic crisis of the early 1980s, have propelled an exodus of rural inhabitants to Niger's largest city...
and works in both French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Meetings
Ministers representing the Authority's members meet in yearly session at the headquarters in Niamey, as well as locations in the member states. Additionally, NBA heads of states and foreign contributors meet at a regular Conference of the Heads of State of the Niger Basin Authority and Partners. The 8th "Summit of the Niger Basin Authority Heads of State and Government" took place in NiameyNiamey
-Population:While Niamey's population has grown steadily since independence, the droughts of the early 1970s and 1980s, along with the economic crisis of the early 1980s, have propelled an exodus of rural inhabitants to Niger's largest city...
in April 2008, and agreed on the implementation of several documents. These included the "2008-2027 Investment Programme of the River Niger Basin", the "Water Charter of the River Niger Basin", creation of a donors' meeting for the implementation of the 2008-2012 priority five-year plan, acceleration of the Taoussa dam project in Mali and the Kandadji Dam
Kandadji dam
The Kandadji dam when completed, will be a large multipurpose dam on the Niger River. The site is situated near the small town of Kandadji, Tillabéri Department, Tillabéri Region, Niger, 180 km northwest of the capital Niamey. Construction of the dam was begun in August 2008...
project in Niger.
The Authority derives funds both from member states and from international donors. The NBA participates in cooperative projects with organisations such as the World Wildlife Fund, Wetlands International
Wetlands International
Wetlands International is a global organisation that works to sustain and restore wetlands and their resources for people and biodiversity. It is an independent, not-for-profit, global organisation, supported by government and NGO membership from around the world...
, RAMSAR
Ramsar
Ramsar is a city in and the capital of Ramsar County, Mazandaran Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 31,659, in 9,421 families....
and foreign donor governments.
External links
- Official website
- Niger Basin Initiative. World Wildlife Fund - WARPO / Freshwater Program for Western Africa Coordination Office.
- Memorandum of Cooperation between Ramsar and the Niger Basin Authority, The Bureau of the Convention on Wetlands, 2002.
- Phase of decision-making of the Niger Basin Authority (August 2006), Label France N°61- Africa on the move, French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.