Clean Water in Africa: Guaranteed Good, Common Concern of Humanity, or Market Commodity?

In this article, the author examines the main approaches to water management in Africa in the context of realizing the right to clean water and sanitation. The features of both public and private water management, as well as the public-private approach, are shown. The author also presents as well the attempts to find a “third way” through decentralization of the management system based on the theoretical developments of Nobel Prize-winner E. Ostrom, a representative of the Bloomington School. Differences in water management in urbanized areas and in rural areas of African countries are shown. In the latter case, the normative and value attitudes of the local community play an important role, and water is not only an important economic resource, but also has great socio-cultural significance. The experience of Burkina Faso illustrates the key role of the public operator in water supply, which has generally remained despite the structural adjustment programmes of the 1990s. The article presents the main features of the privatization of water management in the countries of the Global South and the expert criticism that has been gaining momentum in this regard. At the mid-2000s, the anti-privatization agenda shifted to the promotion of the human right to clean water. The process of adoption of United Nations General Assembly (UN GA) resolution 64/292 “The human right to water and sanitation” on 28 July, 2010 and the mechanisms for its implementation, including within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 6), as well as the place of water issues in the discussed draft of the International Covenant on the Right to Development are shown. The main stakeholders of the global water governance mechanism within the UN and the World Bank are presented, and the special role of leading water multinational corporations (MNCs) and specialized consulting firms, as well as France, are highlighted. Particular attention is paid to the implementation of the right to water in Africa, including within the framework of the 2019Guiding Principles on the Right to Water in Africa, Agenda 2063, and the Results Matrix, as well as in national legislation (the case of South Africa). The article ends with conclusions about the current state of implementation of the right to clean water in Africa.