Following the approval of accession at the highest level by the President of Cameroon on July 7, 2022, and the deposit of the instruments of ratification by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on November 1, 2022, at the UN headquarters in New York, Cameroon became the 47th Party to the United Nations Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Water and International Lakes.
Since Cameroon shares the majority of its water resources with other nations like Chad, Nigeria, Niger, the Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea, this is a significant development for the larger region. Cooperation on these shared waters is necessary to ensure economic development, climate change adaptation, and to maintain regional stability in the face of increasing water stress.
Announcing that “the accession to the Water Convention brings many opportunities to strengthen Cameroon’s water management system and our shared water resources through increased cooperation between states in the Lake Chad, Niger, and Congo River basins as well as coastal rivers to promote sustainable development and peace,” M. Gaston Eloundou Essomba is the Minister of Water Resources and Energy.
The addition of Cameroon solidifies the rapidly growing momentum for water cooperation in Africa, and it may serve as a catalyst for other nations to follow suit and benefit from the Water Convention’s implementation.
Since the Convention was made open to membership by all UN Member States in 2018, Chad, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, and Togo have joined. More than 15 nations are considering joining, the most of them are in Africa. Cameroon’s inclusion could assist reach a critical mass of Water Convention Parties in the area that share the same water resources, putting this useful tool into action. Neighboring Chad is already a Party, and Nigeria just announced their intention to join.
It also offers a solid foundation – supported by International Financial Institutions – to help mobilise financing and de-risk investments for infrastructure and climate change adaptation in shared basins, in addition to providing a legal framework for water cooperation that benefits peace, stability, economic growth, and sustainable development more generally.