Planning role in the development of the Niger River Basin

Abstract

Adequate water supply is a problem of major concern for all countries of the Niger River Basin. A survey of these countries shows a need to develop projects to provide water for domestic and industrial uses. Consequently, an international river basin organization, the Niger River Commission, was created to resolve the socio-economic problems associated with basin development. Unfortunately, scarce financial resources and technical ability severely impaired the decision-making and executive functions of the Commission and now constitute potential obstacles to the Niger Basin Authority. The results of this study indicate that water resources development in the NRB has not been limited by the availability of water but rather by problems associated with the lack of tangible outputs and problems of management. Based upon these results, four criteria for evaluating the efficiency of a water resources management and development strategy for the NR3 are presented. These include criteria for judging the efficiency of the internal structure of the Commission, the efficient use of the available resources, and for evaluating the success of the river basin organization. Four different development strategies are proposed that are based on the project priorities set by the Authority and by the individual countries.