African river basin development

The international conference on The African Experience with River Basin Development challenged participants to pursue a critical discussion of the record to date on approaches to river basin development and to propose appropriate strategies for the future. During the conference, special focus was given to the institutional requirements for planning, implementing and evaluating those strategies which benefit large numbers of people through increased production, enterprise development and employment generations in an environmentally sound fashion. It was noted that serious negative environmental and socio-economic effects have followed in the wake of African dam construction and the creation of large man-made lakes. The conference produced a short-list of general priorities for improving river basin development in Africa.