For Immediate Release
Harare 25 May, 2026
As we mark Africa Day, the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) joins the continent in reflecting on the critical importance of sustainable water availability and safe sanitation systems in achieving the aspirations of Agenda 2063. Access to clean water and effective sanitation is not only a basic human right but also a cornerstone for health, livelihoods, and sustainable development.
At CNRG, we recognize that water is a shared resource and a public good, and that equitable access requires accountable governance, community participation, and protection against exploitation. Across Africa, millions still lack safe water and sanitation, and this inequity hampers efforts to achieve the continent’s long-term socio-economic vision.
We are deeply concerned about the dual crisis of climate-driven water scarcity and the contamination of water sources from mining and industrial activities. Majority of Africa either lack water altogether or communities consume heavily polluted water. In some cases, mining companies are grabbing water sources from indigenous communities. The processing of critical minerals such as lithium requires massive amounts of water. The ongoing scramble for Africa’s mineral resources has exacerbated water conflict between indigenous communities and extractive industries. In most of these cases, governments have taken the side of extractive industries, placing profits over people.
This Africa Day, under the theme “Water Justice for Africa: Advancing Sustainable Access and Safe Sanitation for a Prosperous 2063,” we reaffirm our commitment to:
- Advocate for fair, transparent and responsible management of water resources.
- Promote inclusive policies that ensure communities, particularly the most vulnerable, benefit from safe water and sanitation.
- Support evidence-based interventions that link natural resource governance with sustainable development goals.
We call on governments, private actors, civil society, and communities to collectively ensure that water and sanitation are not privileges but universal rights, integral to the Africa we envision in 2063: prosperous, equitable, and resilient.
On the occasion of Africa Day 2026, CNRG also echoes the call from Africa’s Critical Minerals Forum held in Addis Ababa just weeks ago that critical minerals must be understood as a development issue, not merely a mining issue, and that their extraction must create opportunities for people, including women, youth and local communities, rather than perpetuating dispossession and ecological harm. CNRG welcomes the Forum’s recognition that Africa has a second chance to break from its historical raw-material export model and urges that this transition be grounded in the full realisation of community rights to land, to water, to a clean environment, and to a fair share of mineral wealth.
We therefore call on governments to review mining policies and supporting legislation to ensure the pursuit of mining profits does not compromise the right of indigenous communities to safe drinking water and sanitation.
Centre for Natural Resource Governance
Committed to accountable governance for Africa’s natural resources
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