In 2015, continuous rains, poor planning and blocked drains from plastic waste caused massive flooding that disrupted the lives of over 50,000 people killing more than 150 in Accra Ghana[1]. Similarly, DW the German news service reported in April 2022 of flooding in South Africa that left nearly 400 dead[2]. On the opposite side of the flood spectrum, continuous drought in the horn of Africa since 2020 has devastated the livelihoods of more than 20 million people across Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia with tens of thousands of deaths. CNN reports link these droughts to climate change.[3]

Changes in weather patterns across Africa cannot be denied. We cannot also argue against the contribution of human negligence and behavior to blocked drainages that result in outcomes like flooding, death and disease or indiscriminate destruction of forests and natural cover that exacerbate drought. The question must be asked, if you have flooding and drought across the continent, can part of the solution include channeling excess flood water from flood prone areas to drought prone areas of the continent? What will this solution look like given the vast distances between the ecological zones that exhibit these opposite traits of flood and drought? Is this likely solution technically justifiable?

We think the solution might be within the problem. We also know for a fact that drought affects the livelihood of millions of farmers. A multidisciplinary approach that includes the input of agriculture, engineering, finance and policy experts might make a business case that justifies such massive projects; potentially carrying huge volumes of excess water across vast distances to reservoirs in drought prone locations of the continent. From a technical feasibility point of view, historical antecedents exist from antiquity for projects of this nature.

For instance, Discover Magazine[4] reports that the Romans built their first aqueduct 312 BC and many more over the next 500 years conveying fresh water across vast distances. Although aqueducts were used by the Egyptians, Assyrians and Greeks before them, the Romans took the technology to a whole new level.

The water engineering marvel of the Romans still has its hallmarks across Europe and North Africa today: In Syria and Jordan, the Gadara aqueduct carried water to 10 ancient cities, the longest distance being 60 miles. In Tunisia, the second century AD Zaghouan aqueduct carried water over 80 miles to the city of Carthage.

With a master plan coordinated by the African Union, African countries can individually plan to develop canals in country and other requisite infrastructure that transport huge volumes of flood waters to reservoirs in drought prone regions of their countries. This will solve the twin problems of flooding and drought in locations on the opposite side of the climate crises spectrum. A back of the envelop assessment seems to suggest a viable business case for the proposition needing further evaluation by technical and financial feasibility studies for each country.

To catalyze this, rich countries that are major contributors to global warming can part-fund the development of this infrastructure in the most affected countries of concern. After all, Africa’s contribution to global warming is a paltry 4% despite being the most at risk continent to climate change.

Commercial agriculture irrigated from the proposed water canals and reservoirs within the designated routes of the infrastructure can plan to repay over the long term. It is pleasant to note that Egypt has belled the cat in this regard, currently reported to be constructing a 114 kilometer long man-made river at a cost of $5.25 billion to irrigate the desert and turn it into a profitable agricultural ecosystem.[5]

For other countries on the continent, let the conversation begin!

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Accra_floods

[2] https://www.dw.com/en/south-africa-death-toll-edges-to-nearly-400-after-devastating-floods

[3] https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/27/africa/drought-horn-of-africa-climate-change-intl/index.html

[4] https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/aqueducts-how-ancient-rome-brought-water-to-its-people

[5] https://www.arabianbusiness.com/industries/construction/egypt-plans-to-build-worlds-longest-artificial-river-bigger-than-the-nile-report