The Niger Basin Authority (NBA) is an intergovernmental organization in West Africa that aims to foster co-operation in managing and developing the resources of the basin of the Niger River. Inspired by the Tennessee Valley Authority, the organisation was founded in 1964 as the River Niger Commission.
Nine countries which have some of their territories in the Niger Basin are member states of the NBA: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Nigeria. Although a small area of Algeria falls within the Niger Basin, it is not a member state of the NBA. The organisation is based in Niamey.
The NBA has worked to create an "Integrated Development Plan of the Basin", especially focusing on cross boundary projects. The NBA itself has been ceded no sovereign power over resources or management, and therefore all regulation must be imposed by individual sovereign governments.
The Niger River is a River shared by nine countries of West Africa and the center (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Chad), and supports life and the subsistence of about 150,000,000 millions people. It is 4200 km long, 3rd of Africa after the Nil and Congo and 9th of the world, and drains a surface of the order of 2,100,000 km2, also a third of the total surface of the subregional West African.
The low value of the economic potential of the combined basin with strong population dynamics accentuates the phenomenon of poverty in almost all of the basins. On the other hand, the essential of the resource development activities in the Niger River basin being carried out in the States to the detriment of the actions of an integrative nature.
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The NBA is responsible for coordinating and prioritizing multiple development projects among the nine countries sharing the basin, supporting 160 million people and covering 2.23 million km2.
The Debra focus is to be put, increasingly, on the promotion of the common interest activities. The valorization of the potential of the basin is also confronted to huge problems of financing. The sectors of hydroelectricity and the agricultural hydro amenities, which are very intensive and require external financing, are not yet sufficiently developped. It will also be noted that the development of basin resources is largely dependent on external funding; this reflects a low involvement of people and private investors in particular Africans.
In view of these findings, a major challenge is to ensure that the populations of the Niger River basin develop sustainable development, in an environment plagued by resource degradation. This requires all the actors in the basin to have an overall policy and a shared approach to the development of the basin. This also implies having a common policy and a plan of action for the sustainable development of the basin. All this will help to ensure the integration of the Niger basin into the subregional and regional economic spaces.
Transferring Environmentally Sound Technology to Industries operating in the Niger River Basin
Legal Framework and Mandate
The Niger Basin has been governed by a series of agreements in the post-colonial era, including:
- Act Regarding Navigation and Economic Co-operation between the States of the Niger Basin, done at Niamey, Niger, 26 October 1963, entered into force 1 February 1966 (“1963 Act”);
- Agreement Concerning the Niger River Commission and the Navigation and Transport on the River Niger, done at Niamey, Niger, 25 November 1964, entered into force 12 April 1966;
- Agreement Revising the Agreement Concerning the Niger River Commission and the Navigation and Transport on the River Niger of 25 November 1964, adopted at Niamey, Niger, 15 June 1973, entered into force 15 December 1973 (“Niamey Agreement”);
- Convention Creating the Niger Basin Authority, concluded at Faranah, Guinea, 21 November 1980, entered into force 3 December 1982 (the “1980 Convention”);
- Protocol relating to the Development Fund of the Niger Basin, done in Faranah, Guinea, 21 November 1980, entered into force 3 December 1982 (the “Protocol”); and
- Niger Basin Water Charter, signed in Niamey, Niger, 30 April 2008 (“Water Charter”).
The 1980 Convention significantly revised, but did not replace, the Niamey Agreement. While the 1980 Convention established the Niger Basin Authority in lieu of the Niger River Commission, it did not displace provisions of the Niamey Agreement relating to navigation in particular.
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As provided in the Convention, the NBA’s purpose is to promote cooperation among the Member States and to ensure an integrated development of the Niger Basin in the fields of energy, water resources, agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing and fisheries, forestry, transport, communications and industry. More specifically, the Convention provides that the NBA is responsible for harmonizing and coordinating national development policies; assisting in the development of an integrated development plan for the Basin; promoting projects of common interest; assuring the regulation of navigation consistent with the 1963 Act; and requesting assistance and mobilizing financing for studies and research on Basin resources.
The NBA is also tasked with maintaining contact with the Member States and keeping them informed of its work. Reciprocally, Member States have pledged to inform the Executive Secretary of the NBA of projects they propose to carry out in the Basin.
In 2008, at the Eight Heads of State and Government Summit, West African Heads of State of the Niger Basin riparian countries adopted a twenty year, 5.5 billion euro program to reforest, rehabilitate and remove silt from the Niger River. Some eighty percent of the funding is to be earmarked for developing social and economic infrastructure, with a smaller amount to protect natural resources and ecosystems. The plan is to be implemented in four five-year phases.
The 2008 Summit also resulted in the adoption of a “Water Charter” designed to ensure that NBA Member States share the river’s resources fairly and responsibly. The Charter lays out a series of general principles for equitable and reasonable participation and use of Niger River water.
Map of the Niger River Basin
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Organizational Structure
The NBA is divided into several permanent institutions or organs, including the:
- Summit of Heads of State and Government (the “Summit”)
- Council of Ministers (the “Council”)
- Technical Committee of Experts
- Executive Secretariat
The Summit is the supreme decision-making organ, comprised of the Heads of State of the Member States or their duly accredited representatives. The Summit’s decisions are binding on the NBA. The Summit defines the NBA’s development policy and ensures control of its executive functions with a view to realizing its objectives. It meets once every two years in ordinary session in the Member State holding the chairmanship, with a simple majority quorum.
The Council is the controlling organ of the NBA, comprised of Ministers or their representatives, with one vote on the Council for each Member State. The Council monitors the activities of the Executive Secretariat and reports to, as well as prepares the meetings of, the Summit. The Council meets once a year in ordinary session, also with a simple majority quorum. Recommendations and resolutions are adopted by consensus.
The Technical Committee of Experts is comprised of representatives of the Member States and is tasked with preparing Council sessions and presenting reports and recommendations to the Council.
The Executive Secretariat, in turn, is run by an Executive Secretary appointed on the recommendation of the Council to the Summit for a four-year term, renewable once. Each Member State may present a candidate for Executive Secretary. The Executive Secretary is responsible for day-to-day administration and also undertakes studies and formulates proposals with a view to realizing the NBA’s objectives.
The Convention also provides for a Commission and Financial Controller relating to the Executive Secretariat’s finances.
Key Initiatives and Programs
The NBA has secured a number of external partners and donors. The Bank of African Development has become a major NBA partner, providing 37 million euros to finance the NBA’s plans in connection with silt removal. In 2007, the Islamic Development Bank approved funding for NBA’s plans to build two dams, one in Niger and another in Mali. Other NBA donors and partners include the World Bank, the European Union, Germany’s Development Ministry (which funds NBA capacity-building in particular), Canada and France.
The NBA took part in a series of organized activities and reflections on IWRM. Like most of the basin organizations in West and Central Africa, it took part in the Ouagadougou conference in March 1998 on the promotion of integrated water resources management (IWRM) in West Africa. ABN also contributed to the development of the regional Action Plan for IWRM in West Africa (PAR/IWRM/AO).
In addition, many of the ABN member countries have embarked on IWRM experience. According to the basic principles, the ABN is precisely the place indicated for the implementation of IWRM concepts at the scale of the Niger basin.
Some key initiatives and programs include:
- The Centre for Documentation and information: The Centre was established in 1971 with the support of UNESCO and UNDP. The Centre manages a documentary capital of more than 5000 volumes concerning the Niger basin and its development. The Centre has been modernised and computerised, it is in regular liaison with the documentation centres of the Member States. The Centre regularly produces a bilingual information bulletin (ABN-INFO).
- The Hydro Niger Programme: This is an activity initiated in the years 80 to prevent flooding of the river Niger; The Programme has progressively installed a hydrometric network with means of automatic transmission, in real time, via satellite, of the collected data; The program also has the modern means of processing, storing and disseminating data. A flood forecasting model in Niger complements the Hydro Niger Programme.
Dispute Resolution
The Convention provides that any dispute among the Member States as to the interpretation or implementation of the Convention is to be settled amicably through direct negotiation. If such negotiations fail to settle the dispute, the matter will be referred to the Summit, whose decision is final. The Water Charter provides for amicable settlement with respect to a dispute between two or several parties concerning the interpretation or application of the Water Charter, and submission to the Permanent Technical Committee should such efforts fail.
Data Information Sharing, Exchange, and Harmonization
The Convention charges the NBA with harmonizing and coordinating national policies to develop the resources of the Niger Basin, and requires it to maintain permanent contact with the Member States to inform them of development plans in the Basin. In turn, the Member States undertake to inform the Executive Secretary of proposed projects in the Basin and agree not to undertake projects on portions of the Niger River in their jurisdiction that are likely to pollute the waters or adversely affect the biological characteristics of the flora or fauna.
Challenges and Future Directions
Despite the immense potential that abounds in the Niger River basin, the populations that live there are among the poorest in the world (Blanc-Boge et al., 2007). The region is marked by poverty, rapid population growth and environmental degradation.
The Niger River water management policy must cover all the needs of water-related users. It is now subject to poor management which requires an urgent intervention in order to be able to meet the objectives of sustainable development.
The current management policy has limitations, particularly in the preservation of aquatic environments. Because the results are mixed, fifty years after independence, a large part of the population does not yet have access to drinking water at a reasonable distance, sanitation in our agglomerations is still far below the expectations of Population and food security is still a major concern of the public authorities.
The Niger Basin Authority defines its purpose as the promotion of cooperation among member countries to ensure integrated development of resources. The organisation originally defined its mission as the cooperative management of water resources, most notably, but not limited to, the Niger River. While centering of water and hydroelectric resources, the NBA nations use the organisation to harmonise the development of energy, agriculture, forestry, transport, communications, and industrial resources of the member nations.
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