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WATER POLITICS

When first reading the headline of this report at Terra Daily, I immediately thought that China – akin to its other efforts to “lock up” scarce natural resources in Africa (i.e. hydrocarbons, metals, etc.) – had moved its strategic reach further, into the world of water.  While the details proved to be slightly less dramatic, I still see the headline as a harbinger of what may occur in the future, namely nations “acquiring” water resources of other countries.

“….Cameroon and China have clinched an agreement to increase water production and distribution in Cameroon’s economic capital Douala, the government daily Cameroon Tribune reported Monday. Bankrolled by a 11-billion CFA loan from Pekin (16.l7 million euros, 24 million dollars), the project includes the construction of pipes, wells and a potable water treatment plant, the newspaper said.

The Chinese firm CGC Overseas Construction Co. is to realise the project, which reportedly begins in January and aims to boost Douala’s water production capacity from 115,000 to 260,000 cubic metres in a year.

According to the newspaper, only a third of Douala’s inhabitants currently have direct access to potable water and the city regularly suffers from cholera epidemics….”