Realising Sustainable Access to Water and Sanitation in Africa: Role of Critical Institutions

The current Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report reemphasises the fact that the African continent is particularly vulnerable to the disastrous impact of climate change. The report highlights the urgent need for countries to adopt critical strategies toward ensuring the actualisation of 1.5 °C temperature. Based on low adaptive strategies and geographical location, climate change impacts further exacerbate the African continent’s inherent environmental challenges, more so, the struggle to attain poverty eradication. One of the adverse impacts of climate change is reducing access to water, thus increasing the burden on already water-scarce African countries such as South Africa and Nigeria. In cognisance that access to water and sanitation is critical towards poverty eradication and realising the kind of continent Africans want by 2063, African countries are increasingly adopting several measures to ensure citizens’ access to water. This chapter examines the current institutions and legal framework adopted by the South African Development Community (SADC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to proffer a practical template that States in sub-Saharan Africa can adopt to resolve the challenge of the lack of access to clean, safe drinking water and basic sanitation. The chapter also discusses the existence of an adequate enforcement mechanism that ensures and provides the platform for citizens to assert and protect their right to access clean water and sanitation. Furthermore, the chapter’s focus on South Africa and Nigeria analyses the extent to which regional frameworks are being adopted, implemented, and sustained at the national level, proffering recommendations other countries can adopt within the sub-Saharan African region.