As part of its integrated water resources management policy, our country has just taken a crucial step with the official adoption of the Water Development and Management Master Plans (SDAGE) for the Niger and Volta basins.
This commitment reaffirms the national resolve to ensure equitable and sustainable access to water for all, in both quantity and quality.
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), now the reference approach, aims to reconcile the different uses of water — domestic, agricultural, industrial, and ecological — within a sustainable development framework.
It is based on coherent planning, grounded in the local realities of the river basins and the involvement of all relevant stakeholders.
The SDAGE, as a strategic tool for this planning, defines the main directions, targets for water quality and quantity, and the actions to be implemented in the short, medium, and long term.
It serves as a reference framework for coordinating public and private interventions on water resources management.
The Niger and Volta basins, shared by several West African countries, are at the heart of major water-related challenges: food security, public health, ecosystem preservation, adaptation to climate change, etc.
The adoption of their respective SDAGE marks a significant advance in the concrete implementation of IWRM at the regional level, and also contributes to cross-border cooperation efforts in managing shared resources.
This initiative illustrates the authorities’ commitment to promoting participatory, inclusive, and evidence-based water governance. It also paves the way for increased mobilization of technical and financial partners around transformative projects for the riparian communities of these basins.
The adoption of the SDAGE for the Niger and Volta basins is not an end point, but a starting point toward rigorous, monitored, and evaluated implementation, so that water remains a driver of development, peace, and resilience for all.