Sanitation and Wastewater Atlas of Africa

Water stress situation in Africa

(withdrawals/available supply) Baseline water stress

Extremely high (4-5) High (3-4) Medium to high (2-3) Low to medium (1-2) Low (0-1) No data available

GRID-Arendal/Studio Atlantis 1 000 km

Source: WaterHealth, 2019.

Figure 1.9 . A detailed illustration of the water stress situation in Africa

As Figure 1.9 shows, water stress and scarcity issues on the continent are complex and cross national boundaries. For example, the countries that use the most water by volume are Egypt, Sudan, Madagascar, South Africa, Morocco, Nigeria and Mali, but these are not necessarily themost water-richnations (UNEP n.d). Egypt, for example, is in a climatic zone of low water availability, but is Africa’s largest water consumer at 61.7 cubic kilometres per year (UNEP n.d.). An estimated 75 per cent of the African population relies on groundwater as its major source of drinking water, especially in North and Southern Africa (UNEP 2010). However, groundwater represents only 15 per cent of the continent’s total renewable water resources (UN Water 2015). As Figure 1.10 shows, North Africa is much richer in groundwater resources than the rest of the continent.

Close to 75 per cent of Africa’s population use groundwater sources for drinking

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SANITATION AND WASTEWATER ATLAS OF AFRICA