Experts: Governance, political stability key to unlocking Africa’s energy and water future
Saad Guerraoui
Experts and politicians in Assilah warn that fulfilling Africa’s water and energy demand requires moving past fragmented governance, imported models, and external dependencies.
Sunday 04/10/2026
A rich panel that gave a thorough analysis and solutions to tackle Africa’s problems in energy and water
ASSILAH – Experts and politicians tackled on Friday and Saturday in the northern Moroccan city of Assilah the hurdles that Africa has to overcome in order to meet its needs in energy and water needs.
During a two-day symposium whose theme was “Energy and water stakes in Africa and strategic projects: toward a new geopolitics”, speakers stressed the need of a good governance, political stability and strategic infrastructures and projects are key to meeting African countries’ needs in water and energy.
Moussa Fakiformer Prime Minister of Chad, said that the initiative launched in November 2023 by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, enabling Sahelian countries free access to the sea, is a vital and redeeming initiative that deserves our high commendation.
Mahamat said the symposium’s theme is not only pertinent; but it is also exceptionally timely at a moment when global geopolitics is undergoing complete reconfiguration.
He stressed that the state of affairs in Africa is characterized by a double paradox.
The first paradox is the vastness of its reity and water
“Six hundred million Africans do not have access to electricity. Water is scarce across multiple regions. Need we be reminded? Africa spans 30 million square kilometres, is home to 1.4 billion people, and possesses immense energy, water, and other natural re
The second paradox is the persistence of fragmentation across Africa, undoubtedly driven by a very narrow sense of sovereignty, despite the existence of an integration vision backed by legal instruments: the 1991 Abuja Treaty, the Regional Economic Communities (eight of which are recognized by the African Union), NEPAD (which became AUDA-NEPAD, the African Union Development Agency), Agenda 2063 (the African Union’s 50-year strategic master plan running from 2013 to 2063 to transform Africa into a global powerhouse), and its ten-year implementation plans.
“Unquestionably, strategic infrastructure represents a crucial opportunity for Africa because it offers a threefold advantage:
-
First, it enables the acceleration of integration.As you know, Agenda 2063 is encapsulated by the triad: integration, prosperity, and peace.
-
Second, these strategic infrastructures and projects could unlock long-awaited development.Without electricity, without energy, water, and other vital re
Indeed, consider hydroelectric projects such as dams: the Grand Inga Dam in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which experts say could supply electricity to the entire continent if its falls are rehabilitated; the GERD (Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam), already built in Ethiopia, which supplies electricity not only to Ethiopia but to the wider Horn of Africa region; and the OMVS (Senegal River Basin Development Organization)—which Minister Fofana will certainly speak about—as a successful model of regional integration and cooperation spanning Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, and Mali.
While cross-border projects offer clear advantages, they also entail risks if proper care is not taken. Another example is the project to transfer water from the Congo River Basin to replenish Lake Chad, which has lost 80% to 90% of its surface area.
-
Third, large-scale energy projects, such as the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline, have the potential to completely transform the landscape in Africaand position the continent on the global stage by granting it genuine geopolitical influence internationally.
Two main hurdles must be addressed to translate integration, development, and the ambition for global influence into reality:
-
Cross-border projects must be consensual and, preferably, designed jointly.We saw this with the Ethiopian dam: a project generating several thousand megawatts that may have resolved needs in Ethiopia and its immediate vicinity, yet generated serious tensions with downstream countries, particularly Sudan and Egypt. It is a highly complex, deeply sensitive dossier. During his tenure as Chairperson of the African Union Commission, he tasked his friend and then-chief of staff, Mohamed El-Hacen Ould Lebatt, with following this dossier on his behalf alongside the concerned nations through African mediation—which, unfortunately to this day, has not fully resolved the crisis.
On a personal note, the speaker witnessed and took part in a cross-border initiative: the construction of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline, exporting Chadian crude oil across more than 1,000 kilometers through Cameroon. While Chad pays transit fees, the pipeline enabled a landlocked country to bring its natural reen the two nations
-
The second challenge is financing capacity.Strategic undertakings carry high capital costs, and we must secure the means to finance them. Conventional financing models have run their course. Earlier, Mr. Prodi addressed relations between the European Union, the African Union, and Africa at large. While these ties have evolved, ultimately, over the past two decades—during his service as Chad’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister of Chad, and for eight years as Chairperson of the AU Commission—he observed the reality of this partnership up close: it has brought little fundamental change.
Change must come first and foremost from Africans themselves. While autarky is not the answer, imported models—whether governance formulas or development blueprints—have demonstrated their limitations. Consider the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union. While the African continent has a unified blueprint in Agenda 2063, its partnership with the EU fragments Africa into three distinct tiers: North Africa under a specific Mediterranean framework, South Africa under a separate bilateral agreement, and the rest of the continent under another regime altogether. Such an approach runs counter to reality and does not advance continental integration—and without integration, sustainable development cannot occur.
New partners have emerged: China, Turkey, the Gulf States, and alternative financial institutions. While external partnerships must be thoroughly overhauled, we must also mobilize domestic African savings, generate internal capital re Africa’s present and future
Daniele Di Giovanni, who served as the Head of the Prime Minister’s Office under Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi during his second government from 2006 to 2008, said that recent conflicts — such as the Russia-Ukraine war and Middle East conflicts, including the US war in Iran — have reminded the world that energy is fundamentally a geopolitical issue, dispelling decades of assumptions regarding market stability and cheap commodities.
Speakers said Africa is rich in natural re
A clear demonstration of this nexus is the US, whose transition from a $400 billion energy trade deficit in 2014 to a net exporter fundamentally reshaped its foreign policy.
Di Giovanni said that developing large-scale energy infrastructure requires meeting traditional criteria: technical feasibility, sound legal/regulatory frameworks, and domestic political stability.
Recounting his experience as CEO of a Spanish firm whose $1 billion North African liquefaction plant was halted by internal political upheaval, the speaker highlighted the devastating costs of political instability for project-financed ventures.
“Today, global investors face an even greater hurdle: external geopolitical risk. While capital is abundant and lenders readily absorb commercial risks, they refuse to shoulder geopolitical exposure,” said Di Giovanni.
“For Africa and emerging markets, the renewable energy sector provides a decisive opportunity to avoid this trap by anchoring local production directly within national borders,” he said.
However, acknowledging that a 100% renewable mix is not technically portfolio, where a required 20% to 25% baseload must be secured through reliablesident of Dakhla Open University, argued that Africa’s primary obstacles in energy, water, and climate stem from systemic governance failures, identifying three “major sins”:
-
A lack of cumulative progress, where states fail to build upon existing institutional achievements.
-
A lack of policy effectiveness, characterized by a chronic gap between international-standard planning and actual on-the-ground implementation.
-
A misaligned relationship with time, ignoring the acute urgency felt by citizens while the rest of the world moves forward.
To illustrate Africa’s potential when initiatives are pursued cohesively, Guerraoui highlighted the landmark COP22 summit held in Marrakech in 2016 under King Mohammed VI.
Bringing together fifty African leaders, the summit catalyzed regional action by establishing three dedicated climate commissions (Sahel, Congo Basin, and Island States) and launching strategic initiatives: the Triple A (Adaptation of African Agriculture), Triple S (Sustainability, Stability, and Security), and the AfDB-backed Water for Africa.
Looking ahead, Guerraoui asserts that Africa must address three distinct operational challenges: managing scarcity in water, managing abundance in renewable energy and green hydrogen, and managing systemic vulnerability generated by climate-induced instability.
“Overcoming these requires actionable policies, disciplined implementation, and sustained continental integration,” he concluded.
