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Leaders agree plan to save Niger | |
(about 12 hours later) | |
Nine West African countries have agreed an $8bn, 20-year plan to save Africa's third-largest river, the Niger. | |
The programme, which aims to prevent the river silting up completely, was approved at a meeting in Niamey, Niger. | |
Since the 1980s, there has been a 55% fall in the river's flow, due mainly to climate change, industrial waste and problems caused by population growth. | |
The meeting was told fish stocks had declined and that navigation for river vessels was increasingly difficult. | |
The 4,200km (2,600-mile) long Niger is Africa's third longest river, after the Nile and the Congo, and 110m people live in the river's basin. | |
Covered by sandbanks | |
A Nigerian fisherman told the BBC that the river had become shallower, making it harder to catch fish. | A Nigerian fisherman told the BBC that the river had become shallower, making it harder to catch fish. |
"The flow of the river is not like before," said David Seitimibowei in the Niger Delta. | "The flow of the river is not like before," said David Seitimibowei in the Niger Delta. |
"Now, most of the place is covered by sandbanks." | "Now, most of the place is covered by sandbanks." |
Ashok Subramanian, a water expert from the World Bank, told the BBC that the river could dry up. | Ashok Subramanian, a water expert from the World Bank, told the BBC that the river could dry up. |
"If there is no concerted action, there is that risk," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme. | "If there is no concerted action, there is that risk," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme. |
But he said the countries which share the river were working together to save it, through the Niger Basin Authority (ABN). | |
He said this institution provided a forum for them to decide how to share out the water and resolve any conflicts over its use. | He said this institution provided a forum for them to decide how to share out the water and resolve any conflicts over its use. |
The BBC's Idy Barou in the Niger capital, Niamey, says the plan includes building dams, hydro-electric plants, transport and fishing. | |
Just 19% of the required money has been raised so far, the ABN's Seyni Seydou told the AFP news agency. | |
However, he said he hoped the rest of the money would be raised at a donors' conference to be held in June. | |
The ABN will then aim to find the 1.4 billion euros which would pay for the first phase, from 2008-2012. |
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