[MUSIC] [MUSIC] Well hello Olivier. Thank you for accepting our invitation to participate in this section which deals with cooperation in the the Senegal River Basin. Could you start by introducing yourself for those who are following us? >> I specialize in water resources management and particularly in hydro-diplomacy for the management of large international rivers. Over the past 20 years, I have worked in Africa and Asia, as an expert for major international organisations, such as the World Bank, European Commission and the United Nations without forgetting the Directorate for Swiss Cooperation and Development. I am also a Professor Extraordinary at the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium. >> Okay, good. The Senegal River Basin Development Authority (OMVS) is often cited as a good example of transboundary water management. Can you tell us the reasons behind why it is considered to be an exemplary case? >> Its exemplary character is mostly geopolitical, because the OMVS is a good example, the only example that I know of in developing countries where several countries sharing the same international river invest together in an integrated construction program for several hydraulic and port infrastructures. States are therefore the true owners of the infrastructure and share both the costs and profits according to an allocation key. Another feature of the OMVS basin authority is that it is not only planner and adviser to these governments but also operates its common infrastructures. In other words, the authority produces electricity, manages water levels, and carries out maintenance of the works, dams, dykes etc. >> Okay. Can you tell us how these states decided to organize themselves? >> If the desire for integrated development of the Senegal Basin and River dates back to the nineteenth century, a first draft of the organisation itself dates back to the 1930s when a mission of studies and planning of the Senegal River was created. After decolonization, in 1963, the four riparian countries, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal set up an inter-state committee. Five years later the four states created an organisation known at the time as the Senegal River Riparian States Organization. Unfortunately, this initiative was paralyzed and eventually abandoned due to political problems between Guinea and Senegal. It is not until 1972 that three countries, Mali, Senegal and Mauritania, without Guinea, decided to create the Senegal River Basin Development Authority OMVS, as we still know it today. And it is headquartered in Dakar. So Guinea joined the organisation only much later, in 2006. The OMVS is responsible for more than 40 years of implementing joint investment programs which includes several major projects. The first is the anti-salt dam located 20 kilometres from the mouth of the river on the border between Senegal and Mauritania. It was completed in 1986 with the objective of developing irrigation in order to reach 350 000 hectares in the valley and in the delta. The second major project is the Manantali hydroelectric dam in Mali, mainly in Mali, which was completed in 1988. And finally an ambitious navigation project comprising of two inland ports, among others. >> So how does the organisation work in practice? In each country there is a central national unit and a national coordinating committee, a technical secretariat, common, joint, based in Dakar. A High Commissioner is named according to a rotation principle between countries and it is headed by a conference of heads of state and a council of ministers which meets annually. There are also advisory bodies, standing committees on water etc. And water distribution methods between the countries and the approval of new projects are governed by a water charter signed in 2002. It is important to note that within the OMVS framework, the exploitation of infrastructure was entrusted to three public companies. The Society of Management of the Manantali Water or SOGEM, established in 1997, the Society of Management and operation of Diama (SOGED) also established in 1997, and more recently the SOGENAV, to manage navigation, established in 2011. >> Okay, so we see that the Senegal River has a very accomplished institutional architecture when compared to other cases, especially European cases such as the case of the Rhine where a serious pollution of the river really boosted cooperation among states. What about Senegal? What are the "trigger points", as they say in English, which encouraged cooperation between states? >> As I have already pointed out the creation of a common institution began a long time ago. However, it was the drought of the late 1960s and early 1970s which accelerated the creation of the OMVS in 1972. Please note that at the time it was much easier than today for governments to borrow substantial financial resources from the World Bank to build large dams, especially as the fight against drought was a powerful argument >> Ultimately, what are the main issues that the organisation has helped to address? >> If we want to summarize in a few words. I would say that it has met the needs of development and the fight against poverty in an area particularly affected by weather conditions. So to date, there are two positive results to highlight. Power generation (although it took 15 years to start after the construction of the dam) and the production of fresh water, both for agriculture and for domestic needs. And in this respect, a really remarkable result was when saltwater was prevented from entering the river by means of the Diama dam. Before the construction of this dam, saltwater could reach up to 300 kilometres inland. This anti-salt dam enables not only irrigation in the delta and the valley but also supplies the whole city of Dakar, 250 kilometres further south. However, there is still a long way to go. Irrigation must continue to expand because the objective of 350 000 hectares is far from being reached. The navigation development project has taken substantial time to get off the ground and there is still significant hydroelectric potential to be developed. But the key, I believe, is to remember, that in the case of the Senegal River investments are based on good understanding and a common institution, and that, finally this initiative has seen cooperation extend into other sectors. >> Thank you. [MUSIC]