The Our Water Our Right Africa Coalition (OWORAC) has called for urgent action to safeguard Africa’s water resources from what it describes as the twin threats of climate change and water privatisation.
The call is coming ahead of this year’s World Water Day 2025.
In a statement released on Friday, the coalition called on African governments to protect water as a public good, warning against the growing trend of treating water as a market commodity. It decried attempts to justify water privatisation under the guise of climate adaptation.
Part of the statement reads: “This year’s theme, ‘Glacier Preservation’, spotlights the punishing impacts of climate change on global freshwater reserves. But the message must be clear, the climate crisis is no excuse to hand over our water to corporations.”
OWORAC noted that rising global temperatures, largely driven by reckless extractivism and lack of corporate accountability, are already severely affecting freshwater availability across Africa. As such, allowing profit-driven models to control water supply would only deepen inequality and worsen access for vulnerable populations.
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“Africa’s water crisis is already at a tipping point with over 1.3 billion Africans facing water insecurity every day. The glaciers that feed our rivers and sustain life are melting at alarming rates, threatening water security for millions,” the coalition said.
“The melting of glaciers on Mount Kilimanjaro, the Rwenzori Mountains, and Mount Kenya —which feed vital rivers like the Nile, Congo, and others—will exacerbate droughts, food insecurity, and water stress for millions across the continent. In Africa, where entire communities depend on freshwater sources fed by mountain glaciers and seasonal flows, this crisis will not only intensify water shortages but also worsen social
inequality. For those who already struggle to access clean and affordable water, the effects of climate change will be catastrophic—unless urgent action is taken.”
The coalition drew a direct link between the worsening climate crisis and the growing push for water privatisation, calling them “two sides of the same coin.”
“As glaciers recede and freshwater becomes scarcer, corporations and financial institutions are exploiting this crisis as an opportunity to entrench profit-driven models of water management,” OWORAC said.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
