Land, Water and Mineral Resources as Sources of Conflicts in Africa: The Way Forward

Land, water and mineral resources control are emerging as significant security problem around the world. This paper attempts an over-view of the role of these resources in conflicts in Africa. The major source of conflict is the issue of resource control and the right to a healthy environment. The paper examines regional cases of these conflicts, taking Africa as baseline. Conflicts over land and mineral resources usually arise from the problem of access and rights, and they occur mostly within, not between states. On the other hand, almost all the major rivers of Africa have been sources of conflict among or between riparian countries. However, most of these disputes have been successfully resolved, and the process has in many cases led to the formation regional blocks for economic and diplomatic co-operation and peace in the regions. In some other cases these regions have developed well-coordinated approaches to resolving the disputes: either by judicial apportionment, congressional action or based on negotiated compacts. The paper concludes with a look at some peculiar cases resulting from the issue of climate change. In all, the view is that careful application of equitable water- and other resource- sharing agreements along the volatile territories is the main prerequisite to Africa’s peace and stability.

Keywords:

Land , Water , Minerals , resources , Conflicts , Resolutions , Climate change