Transforming Africa—the Transaqua project shows the way

Driven by Agenda-2063 vision of the African Union (AU), Africa has already unveiled a blueprint for its rise. The strategic framework in turn is giving rise to several initiatives including the Transaqua project of reviving Lake Chad, which provides livelihood to millions of African in the heart of Sahel.

Launched in Adis Ababa in January 2015, Agenda 2063 is a 50-year plan to holistically transform Africa, along with embellishing the continent’s unique cultural identity.

Apart from eradicating poverty within one generation, Agenda-2063 has an ambitious political agenda. This includes political integration, resulting in formation of a pan-African confederation based on principles of democracy and justice as well as regional collective security. Besides, it seeks to foster Africa’s unique cultural identity, driven by “African renaissance”. Finally, it calls for gender equality as well as political independence from foreign powers, echoing a powerful sentiment in Africa of liberating itself from its sordid colonial history.

In order to usher prosperity, Agenda 2063 has earmarked transformational infra-projects, including setting up a high-speed train network that would connect all African capitals and commercial hubs, and harnessing the waters of the mighty Congo River.

Besides, the Agenda-2063 plan hopes to set up an African Continental Free Trade Area. On finance, it visualises an African Investment Bank, a Pan-African Stock Exchange, an African Monetary Fund, and an African Central Bank. Its 360-degree blueprint also caters for establishing a Great African Museum, which would showcase Africa’s proud cultural heritage and promote Pan-Africanism. An Encyclopaedia Africana--an authoritative resource on the authentic history of Africa and African life—is also to be published as feedstock for sketching the continent’s progressive post-colonial narrative.

Going beyond Agenda-2063, the Transaqua project focuses on reviving the dying Lake Chad by channelling the waters of the Congo into this massive waterbody can be real game changer. Revival of Lake Chad in the Sahel in Central Africa can provide meaningful livelihood to millions of Africans, who have traditionally relied on its waters for their sustenance.

So, what exactly is the Transaqua project?

Lake Chad has a catchment area of 2,434,000 Sq. Kilometres, with eight countries—Algeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Libya, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan using its resources. Lake Chad is mainly fed by the Chari and Longone rivers.

However, Lake Chad is suffering from a double whammy. This giant water body in Central Africa has shrunk from 25,000 Sq. Km in 1973 to 2500 Sq. Km in 2015. While water availability has reduced dramatically, population has increased nearly four times from 8 million to nearly 30 million. The acute water shortages for people residing in 4 countries bordering the Lake-- Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad and others which depend on it—is having major humanitarian, ecological and social consequences. It is therefore not surprising that in the wake of this humanitarian strife, Boko Haram, the dreaded terror group, has raised its ugly head in the region, especially Nigeria.

In order to mitigate the drought around Lake Chad, and turn the area into a food producing zone, the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), comprising six countries will have to further apply its mind to find out-of-the-box solutions.

According to the Italian firm Bonifica, the Transaqua project will require setting up a huge monitoring system. This nerve centre, in turn, should perform several tasks simultaneously, including studying consequences of climate change in the area, and coordinating national and transnational projects that are underway in this region.

Second, there is no other option but to divert waters of the vast Congo River Basin to Lake Chad.

This can be achieved by building a string of dams not only. A 2400 kilometres canal would carry the water to the lake. As a consequence, more than1500 m³/s, which is just 5-8% of the Congo's average flow, will be delivered to Lake Chad, more than its current inflow. Simultaneously hydro-power would be generated at several points along the way, where new industrial townships will spring up. The total cost of the project would be above $50 billion.

According to the Bonifica proposal, water need not be drawn directly from the Congo River. Instead, water can be taken at high altitude from the river’s west bank tributaries, starting in the southern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and reaching, by means of gravity, the Central African Republic (CAR)-Chad watershed. From there at a height of about 500 meters, the water would be channelled into the Chari River, a tributary of Lake Chad.

Consequently, a 2,400 km-long waterway could be built, crossing all west bank tributaries of the Congo River, including Kotto, Mbomou, Uele and Aruwimi, where dams and water reservoirs would be constructed.

This would result in the collection of 100 billion cubic meters of water per annum, which could be poured into Lake Chad. Engineers have calculated that the lake could be replenished by half that amount of water, and the remaining could irrigate a vast area twice as large as the lake itself.

On 13 November 2020, former Italian Prime Minister, former EU Commission chief and former UN Special Envoy for the Sahel Romano Prodi had asserted that populations around Lake Chad could not wait any longer. He called for the European Union (EU), the UN as well as the African Union and China to join hands to finance and build Transaqua.

In fact, China’s entry into the project could prove to be a game-changer. China became a player largely because of financial difficulties of Nigeria, which had so far been the leading African player backing the project.

According to a 2017 article published by the Schiller Institute, President Buhari had turned lukewarm towards the enterprise, mainly because of Nigeria’s grave economic crisis. Abuja’s oil revenues had sunk to critically low levels because of the drop in international energy prices. The problem further aggravated because of the emergence of, “The avengers of the Niger Delta,” –a new terror group that blew up pipelines, causing national oil production to drop by a steep 30 per cent. Besides, cash strapped Nigeria had to divert significant resources to fight Boko Haram terror group, leaving hardly any funds for the grand Transaqua scheme. By May 2016, Buhari had no option but to capitulate to mounting domestic and international pressures that he had been encountering, including arm-twisting by international financial circles to devalue the Nigerian currency.

The China factor +Emerging Economies:

When the project was in doldrums, it was then that China sought the opportunity to step in. This was mainly due of the initiative of the LCBC, which invited PowerrChina—a multinational that had made its name by building the famous Three Gorges Dam--to participate in the project. In tune with the MoU that had been signed with LCBC, PowerChina agreed to finance a feasibility study for the initial stages of Transaqua, and to develop related infrastructure.

The feasibility study has been looking at:

“1. Potentially transferring 50 billion cubic meters annually to the Lake Chad through a series of dams in DRC, Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

“2. Potentially generating up to 15 to 25 thousand million kWh of hydroelectricity through the mass movement of the water by gravity.

“3. Potentially developing a series of irrigated areas for crops, or livestock over an area of 50,000 to 70,000 square kilometres in the Sahel zone in Chad, northeast Nigeria, northern Cameroon and Niger.

“4. Creating an expanded economic zone by providing a new infrastructure platform of development in agriculture, industries, transportation, and electrical production, affecting up to 12 African nations.

“The core idea,” the statement continues, “is to increase the water quantity in Lake Chad, to improve the water flow conditions, to alleviate poverty within the basin through socio-economic activities, to meet the energy needs of towns … surrounding … the … Congo and to conduct an in-depth environmental impact assessment.”

Nigerian media quoted Vice-President of PowerChina, Tian Hailua as saying that the “company was committing both technical and financial assistance towards the actualization of the water transfer to the lake”. He added that the PowerChina had agreed to pitch in $1.8 million in order to make life more meaningful, socially and economically, to the people within the basin. Hailua pointed out that following the water transfer to the lake, it would be possible to irrigate over 50,000 to 70,000 square kilometres in the basin—a major boost for agriculture and rearing livestock.

It is expected that following its involvement in the project, PowerChina study will explore the feasibility of building a system of dams and waterways which can be extended southwards in the Democratic Republic of Congo, involving all of the right-side tributaries of the Congo River. If that happens the project will mutate and become a major artery for transportation connecting all central African nations.

China’s involvement in a mega project showcases the possibilities for emerging economies to take up and lead development of infrastructure in Africa, which has been otherwise been at the mercy of an exploitative and whimsical West for such giant undertakings. China’s involvement should pivot other major emerging economies, especially India, Russia and Brazil to initiate participation in big geo-economic projects in the Global South, especially Africa after influencing and docking with the continent’s evolving Agenda-2063.

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