Africa

This letter from International Rivers and Environmental Defense urges the Bank to ensure that social and environmental problems from the first dam are resolved before approving a loan for the second dam. Jean–Louis Sarbib Vice President Africa Department The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20433 Dear Mr. Sarbib: We are writing to you because we are concerned that pressure to advance with the appraisal process of Phase 1B of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project will undercut the World Bank’s stated commitment to address the disturbing social and environmental problems left b

Executive Summary Water conservation and demand management (WC/DM) holds tremendous potential to help the region to meet its water needs. Urban and agricultural water use in southern Africa is highly inefficient. In South Africa, for example, it is estimated that nearly half of urban water is wasted through water loss or inefficiency. Similarly, irrigation in Southern Africa, which represents 69 percent of total consumption, is estimated to be less than 50 percent efficient. If irrigation practices could be made only 10 percent more efficient across the region, 2.5 billion cubic meters would b

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) is a massive, multi–dam scheme built to divert water from Lesotho’s Maloti Mountains to South Africa’s industrial Gauteng Province. The first phase of the project involved the construction of two large dams, Katse and Muela, which dispossessed 20,000 rural farmers of assets (ranging from fields to grazing lands) and livelihoods. In an effort to prevent the permanent impoverishment of these people, the governments of South Africa and Lesotho promised in the LHWP Treaty that affected people "will be enabled to maintain a standard of living not inf

With a generating capacity of more than 40,000 MW, South Africa–based Eskom is Africa’s largest energy utility, and ranks as one of the top five energy utilities in the world. Eskom is a de facto monopoly in South Africa, and also generates over half the electricity produced in the whole of Africa, with operations in 31 countries on the continent. Because of its heavy reliance on coal, it is the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions in South Africa. Eskom management has also stated that it intends to rely increasingly on nuclear power. And in recent years, Eskom has begun to

Based on the WCD Report and the South African Initiative on the WCD

Large hydro dams do not "lift all boats"—in fact, they increase the gap between energy haves and have-nots. Electricity passes over a village resettled for Kariba Dam, Zimbabwe Karin Retief Africa’s large dams (more than 1,270 at last count) have consistently been built at the expense of rural communities, who have been forced to sacrifice their lands and livelihoods to them yet have reaped few benefits. Large hydro dams in Sudan, Senegal, Kenya, Zambia/Zimbabwe and Ghana have brought considerable social, environmental and economic damage to Africa, and have left a trail of "developmen

TO: Project Implementors (KenGen, JBIC, Govt. of Japan) FROM: Sondu–Miriu Community CC: All Stakeholders Dear Sir/Madam: Please find below the Declaration by the communities affected by the Sondu–Miriu Hydro–Electric Power Project (SMHHP) being implemented in Kenya and funded by the Japanese Government. Many critiques by people affected by the Sondu–Miriu Hydro–Electric Power Project have been sent to, among others, the Japanese Government and KenGen (Kenya Electricity Generating Company, the local institution implementing the project on behalf of the Kenya Government). Ther