﻿Zimbabwe Invest $600 Million In Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project
Zimbabwe is home to Lake Kariba, the world's biggest man-made lake. It is a country known
for its natural wonders, such as Lake Victoria, the world's biggest waterfall. Zimbabwe is a
landlocked nation in Southeast Africa, surrounded by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the
south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozambique to the east. Harare is the capital and largest city.
Bulawayo, the second biggest city, will host the $600 million Zambezi Water Project.
Zimbabwe, a country of around 15 million people, has 16 official languages.
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According to Section 77 of Zimbabwe's Constitution, "every individual has a
right to safe, clean, and drinkable water, and the State shall adopt appropriate legislative and
other means, within the limits of its resources, to ensure the gradual realization of this right."
Lack of critical water treatment chemicals prompted Harare's Morton Jaffray water treatment
facility to cease operations on September 23, 2019, leaving over one million people without
flowing water. The Harare City Council (HCC) blamed the stoppage on foreign currency shortages.
Enock Mupamawonde, Deputy Mayor,
requested the government to declare the water situation a national catastrophe,
claiming that the local authority requires at least 40 million Zimbabwe Dollars (US$2.7
million) each month for water chemicals, but only collecting 15 million Zimbabwe Dollars per month.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that everyone have access to between 50 and 100
litres of water per day in order to meet the most basic needs and avoid disease outbreaks. 4 Due to
severe shortages of this vital and life-saving liquid, many Zimbabweans fall well short of
this threshold. The South African Nation is experiencing a countrywide water problem or in
other words “drought” forcing the majority of municipal governments to limit water supply.
So it comes as no surprise that the Zimbabwean government is investing $600 million on the
Matabeleland Zambezi water project to permanently alleviate the country's current water problem.
The Matabeleland Zambezi water project is a huge water project in Zimbabwe's
Matabeleland North Province that intends to ease the continuous water scarcity that has afflicted
Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo, by supplying water from the mighty Zambezi River.
The massive project is being carried out in three stages:
The first phase is the Gwayi-Shangani dam, the second phase is the Gwayi-Shangani Dam
to Bulawayo Pipeline, and the last phase is the Gwayi-Shangani Dam to Zambezi River Pipeline.
The Gwayi-Shangani dam, built by China International Water and Electric Corporation
(CWE), will be completed in the first phase. CWE is constructing a roller compacted concrete
gravity dam 70 meters high and 305 meters wide. The facility will store 634 million
cubic meters of water and will be located six kilometers downstream of the confluence
of the Gwayi and Shangani rivers, which are Zambezi River tributaries.
With phase one nearing completion, CWE aims to open the reservoir in 2022,
after the pandemic limitations are gone. According to the Chinese Corporation,
the reservoir is scheduled to be operational this year. However, travel restrictions enforced
by authorities during the pandemic's height substantially slowed project development.
The installation of an intake in the new dam is the project's second phase. Water will be
transported to Bulawayo via a 260-kilometer pipeline and pumping stations that connect
the Gwayi-Shangani dam to Bulawayo, which the Zimbabwean government has recently begun laying.
The pipeline route has been assigned to local firms, who will seek to finish the job for $1.5
million. The Zimbabwean government plans to purify the water for domestic use,
with part of it going to the dry Matabeleland area to support irrigation systems. The third phase of
the project involves the building of bulk water extraction infrastructure on the Zambezi River,
as well as a second pipeline connecting it to the Gwayi-Shangani Bulawayo pipelines.
When finished, the Gwayi-Shangani canal, hailed as a lifesaver for Bulawayo's long-standing
water deficit, would have the potential to supply approximately 160 million cubic meters of water
to the city yearly. The Matabeleland Zambezi water project is categorized as a mega project
since it costs $600 million, which is a large expenditure for an African country.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa spoke at the opening ceremony
of the Gwayi-Shangani Water Project, resolving that the water project will
undoubtedly assist in reducing water shortages in the southwestern area.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Gwayi-Shangani Water project, according to President Mnangagwa,
is a big step forward in enhancing water security and supply in Bulawayo and its environs.
The embarkment, which will be Zimbabwe's third biggest landlocked water body,
will have a net storage capacity of 690 million cubic meters of water, which is more than 1.8
times that of Bulawayo's existing supply dams combined. Meanwhile, the Zimbabwean government
has found a temporary solution to the city of Bulawayo's water crisis, while the country would
have to wait until 2022 to take benefit of the new Matabeleland Zambezi water project facilities.
The Nyamandlovu aquifer water project, which President Mnangagwa also announced, is anticipated
to boost Bulawayo's water supply by supplying approximately 20 million litres of water per day.
Zimbabwe's latest water problem is based in a catastrophic drought that began in 2018.
While some regions of the nation have received a temporary reprieve with intermittent rainfall
in recent months, more Earth-parching weather is expected in the coming years.
The government effort with investment in the building of the Gwayi-Shangani Water project
is viewed as the best approach in alleviating the country's water concerns by notable water experts,
since the reservoir would retain adequate water for usage during dry seasons.
Water Shortage has always been a problem in Africa. Water Crisis is expected to
reach dangerously high levels in Africa by 2025. It is projected that by 2025,
about two-thirds of the world's population would face a fresh water scarcity. Physical and
economic shortage, fast population expansion, and climate change are the primary reasons of water
scarcity in Africa. Water shortage is defined as a paucity of fresh water resources to fulfill normal
water demand. Although rainfall is abundant in Sub-Saharan Africa, it is seasonal and irregularly
distributed, resulting in periodic floods and droughts. Furthermore, widespread economic
development and poverty concerns, along with fast population increase and rural-urban mobility,
have positioned Sub-Saharan Africa as the world's poorest and least developed area. The United
Nations Economic Commission for Africa highlighted the need of investing in the development of
Africa's potential water resources to eliminate avoidable suffering, guarantee food security,
and safeguard economic benefits by efficiently managing droughts, floods, and desertification.
Some proposed and existing initiatives to do this include a focus on infrastructure
installations and upgrades to wells, rainwater collection systems, and clean-water storage
tanks. African Nations are heavily investing into Water projects, None more than Kenya
with 3 on Going water projects notably the KENYA INTEGRATED WATER, SANITATION,
AND HYGIENE PROJECT (KIWASH). The Kenya Integrated Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Project program
will provide better water, sanitation, and hygiene services to over one million Kenyans across nine
counties, as well as increased access to irrigation and nutrition services. KIWASH
works with water and sanitation providers to help them develop business plans,
enhance operations, and obtain financing. Simultaneously, community-led behavior
change communications work to increase demand for better home WASH and nutrition.
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