Only six out of the 26 African countries, which subscribed to the United Nations-endorsed Millennium Development Goals (MDG) regarding access to water and sanitation, were on track to reach these goals by 2015.

Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (Dwaf) deputy director general for national water resources, Dr Cornelius Ruiters, on Tuesday said that only 58% of the African population had access to drinking water.

He stated that between 1999 and 2000, about 245-million Africans had received access to water, but as population figures rose, the number of people needing access to clean water and sanitation, increased.

“The moving target is the biggest challenge you have because you have more people that are added to the list. About 153-million people have gained access to sanitation, but the number who need sanitation has grown to 553-million.”

The critical challenges facing the water and sanitation industries in Africa included infrastructure financing, resource conservation, equitable distribution, and institutional development and capacity building.

South Africa was currently the African country with the largest infrastructure base, which consisted of about 400 dams and several pipelines. Ruiters estimated that South Africa’s water and sanitation infrastructure was worth about R93-billion.

In terms of water resources, Dwaf estimated that Africa had about 5 400 km3 of renewable resources, which constituted about 10% of the world’s water resources. Among the continent’s resource was the world’s second largest water resource, the Congo basin.

Africa had the potential for 40-million hectares of land irrigation, although the current figures suggested that only 7% of managed land was under irrigation. Ruiters noted that one had to consider the detrimental affect this could have on food security, export possibilities, and economic value for the country.

The continent’s water resource also offered the opportunity to create 1,4-million GWh of hydro power, which could be used to overcome the power challenges currently experienced in Southern Africa. “Only 7% of hydro power potential has been developed. I think there is much more room, and it should be a high priority. Water ministers and energy ministers of the continent need to come together to make sure that we use this asset.”

Agriculture was the biggest consumer of water globally, with the industry demanding about 77% of water consumption annually. Domestic use came in second, with world figures turning at about 32%.

Ruiters noted that South Africa had an estimated storage capacity of 30-billion m3, of which about 15-billion m3 were in use. He added that when any country was considering adding to its storage capacity, it had to take note of the dangers of climate change, and adapt the infrastructure to suit the need.

Although the country possessed some of the world’s major water resources, its storage capacity was one of the lowest, compared with other nations. South Africa had an estimated 700-m3 capacity a person, which was lower than either Thailand or Mexico, but was the highest in Africa.