Closing the African data gap

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI), through the Foresight Initiative, is providing valuable statistics on water management and energy production in Africa through an open access database. IWMI’s research provides the most detailed analysis on freshwater demand for electricity in Africa for the year 2020. This level of data use is unprecedented: previous statistics and reports are scarce.

Africa is predicted to have the largest population growth of any continent between now and 2050. The continent will therefore experience a surge in water demand. Water use for energy is increasing globally, but there is a high degree of uncertainty in the African context. Electricity production requires substantial amounts of water, yet no spatially detailed analysis differentiating energy types and covering the whole African continent exists for the current decade. This data gap is due to limited national availability and the placement of scientific information behind paywalls.