Windhoek residents who turned on their taps to find brownish water are seeing the effects of a sudden strain on the city’s supply system, officials say. The city has linked the discolouration to an interruption in water supply from the Namibia Water Corporation following damage to the pipeline that feeds water from the Von Bach Water Treatment Plant to Windhoek. The disruption has led reservoir levels across Windhoek to drop significantly, and the city says the lower levels allowed residue that had settled at the bottom of…

Bureaucracy is choking access to safe drinking water nationwide, lawmakers warned, taking aim at the government’s current water-supply budget. Several MPs pressed ministers to declare water provision a national emergency, arguing that the allocated funds fall far short of what is needed to deliver additional tanks and bolster infrastructure in many regions. "In most rural areas, there is only one tap serving an entire community. Water tankers do not reach all settlements, and sometimes there is no money for fuel," one MP…

Thursday May 14, 2026 In the town of Afdub, in Ethiopia’s Somali region, residents have gone through multiple missed rainy seasons and now rely on a private water supplier.Ethiopia 2026. ©Roza Bekele/MSF Humanitarian conditions are worsening fast across Ethiopia’s Somali region and nearby border areas, where drought and displacement are combining to drive up malnutrition and deepen water shortages, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned, saying shrinking aid budgets are making a bad situation even harder to manage. MSF said…

Monday May 11, 2026 Jigjiga (AX) — A long-awaited solution to Qabridaharre’s water problems took a major step forward on Sunday, when Ethiopia’s Somali Regional Government broke ground on a 407 million birr water purification plant aimed at easing chronic shortages and improving water quality in the town. Somali Regional State President Mustafa Muhumed Omar and Water Affairs Minister Ahmed Miraad Layli led the foundation-laying ceremony, joined by local and district officials. The plant is slated to supply clean, treated…

Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) has accused Israeli authorities of systematically denying Gaza’s population the water needed to survive, describing the policy as a form of “collective punishment” against Palestinians. The medical charity said the widespread destruction of civilian water systems across the enclave, combined with restrictions on access, forms “an integral part of Israel’s genocide”. In its report, "Water as a Weapon", MSF said this “engineered scarcity” is unfolding in parallel with the…

A quarrel over access to a water well has spiraled into deadly interethnic violence in eastern Chad, leaving at least 42 people dead and 10 others injured. Such clashes, often rooted in farmer-herder tensions over scarce resources, are a recurring challenge across the country. Authorities said a delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Limane Mahamat was dispatched to the area and that the situation is now under control. Conflicts over water and grazing land have become more frequent in Chad, with extreme weather…

Wednesday April 1, 2026 Yasin Ahmed (left) inspects the dried-up wells /Asia Yusuf/Ergo Residents of Taleh in Somalia’s northern Sool region are running out of choices after two shallow wells that once served the area went dry, forcing families to depend on costly water deliveries brought in by truck from elsewhere. For many low-income households, the price is simply out of reach. At the same time, food stocks are dwindling and debts are piling up. Yasin Ahmed Isse’s family of 10 now survives by asking neighbours for small…

Access to safe water is transformative for communities, enhancing health, boosting agricultural productivity, and providing women and girls with the precious time needed to focus on education, careers, and leadership roles. This year, World Water Day emphasizes this critical connection with the theme, "Where water flows, equality grows," drawing attention to the essential relationship between water security and gender equality. More on the AfDB AllAfrica page.

East Africa’s new drought surge pushes millions toward hunger as water prices soar and livestock die Friday March 6, 2026 MOGADISHU — A failed rainy season has deepened drought across Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, thrusting nearly 26 million people into extreme hunger, accelerating livestock deaths and sending water prices soaring, Oxfam warned in a report released this week. The crisis arrives less than three years after the Horn of Africa’s longest and most severe drought on record, when five consecutive rainy seasons…

Johannesburg residents are embroiled in a worsening water crisis that is triggering community conflict and stretching relief efforts, while authorities in the Western Cape urge conservation as municipalities confront failing infrastructure, according to local reports. In Johannesburg, shortages have forced people to queue for hours at water tankers only for supplies to run out. The breakdown is reportedly driving arguments and physical fights as some residents collect far more water than others. Some neighbourhoods remain…