CAPPA Warn Against Water Privatisation, Says Policy Will Deepen Poverty
– Urge African government to reject loans tied to water privatisation
Sunday Ehigiator
The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) have warned African governments against the privatisation of water, describing it as a policy that worsens poverty and undermines citizens’ access to a vital resource.
Speaking at a press conference recently held in commemoration of the Fifth Africa Week of Action against Water Privatisation, convened by Our Water Our Right Africa Coalition (OWORAC) in partnership with the Make Big Polluters Pay (MBPP) Africa Coalition, CAPPA’s Programme Officer for Water Campaigns, Sefa Ikpa, urged governments across the continent to reject loans tied to privatisation conditions.
Delivering the press text themed, ‘Public Water for Climate Resilience’, Ikpa said water privatisation has consistently proven to be a “poverty trap” that enriches corporate actors at the expense of ordinary citizens.
“The choice of this year’s theme reflects the reality and severity of the moment,” she said.
“Africa faces multiple and overlapping environmental challenges, and climate change in particular often reveals itself most forcefully through water. Across the continent, prolonged droughts, devastating floods, and unpredictable rainfall are disrupting lives and livelihoods.”
Ikpa noted that in regions like the Horn of Africa, successive droughts have dried up rivers and wells, leaving millions dependent on humanitarian aid.
Her words: “We urge African governments to put human need before financial returns and call on international institutions to end the destructive practice of tying privatisation conditions to loans.
“Corporate profiteers must take their hands off Africa’s water and stop using the climate crisis as a pretext to plunder the environment. Africa’s water cannot be auctioned off to the highest bidder without imperiling the very basis of life.”
Also speaking, CAPPA’s Water Campaign Director, Neil Gupta, stressed that privatising water undermines collective efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
“Simply put, the short-term profit incentives of the private sector are fundamentally incompatible with the long-term planning and investment that the climate crisis requires.
“Private water corporations see the climate crisis as an opportunity for profit, with some of the world’s largest players, particularly French multinationals, making billions yearly while leaving a decades-long trail of abuse.”
On his part, the Executive Director of CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said the struggle against water commodification is central to Africa’s quest for environmental and social justice.
“Today we reject false solutions. The way we protect and govern water will determine whether our communities can endure the crises ahead. The resistance against the commodification of water is not an isolated struggle; it is part of a broader continental affirmation that public services, when transparently managed and democratically governed, form the foundation of social justice and climate resilience.”
Oluwafemi concluded by reaffirming CAPPA’s advocacy for climate-resilient societies built on equitable, publicly governed water systems that prioritise the needs of all citizens, especially the most vulnerable.
