Marrakech, Morocco, 12 October 2023 – Islamic Development Bank President, H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, says water scarcity has been a driver for innovation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. He made the remarks while addressing the 2023 World Bank-IMF meetings now underway in Marrakech, Morocco.

The event dubbed: “Thirsty for Solutions: Global Challenges and Local Solutions in Tackling Water Scarcity and Security in the Middle East and North Africa”, mainly reviewed the water security challenges in the region and the most efficient solutions to deal with them.

At the beginning of his remarks, the IsDB President extended his heartfelt condolences over the tragic loss of lives because of the recent natural disasters in Morocco and Libya.  

Describing the MENA region as a global hotspot for unsustainable water use, the IsDB President enumerated a series of factors behind this issue namely over-abstraction for agriculture despite lower overall productivity, over-reliance on shared aquifers, and insufficient water management policies.

He then underlined the need to focus on the indigenous yet efficient and inspirational water management methodologies of the past such as subsurface aqueducts. “For thousands of years, our ancestors in the region were inventive, using the ingenious qanat system, also called Foggara in Algeria and Aflaj in Oman. The qanat allows water to be transported over long distances in hot, dry climates without losing much water to evaporation,” Dr. Al Jasser stated.   

Furthermore, he highlighted the significance of focusing on improving operation and maintenance techniques to introduce further efficiency into water management of regional countries asserting how nonconventional water sources such as desalination, and wastewater reuse can be instrumental in tackling the water scarcity challenge.   

The MENA region holds only 1.4 percent of the world’s freshwater resources and in some of its countries more than half of water withdrawals exceed natural replenishment making the region a global host spot for unsustainable water use.

Continuing his remarks, Dr. Al Jasser elaborated on desalination as a viable source of water supply in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where serious feasible research is underway to cut the relevant energy costs to historic lows by focusing on solar energy.

He also referred to the Arab Republic of Egypt as the largest investor in wastewater treatment for agricultural irrigation with an installed capacity of more than 4 billion cubic meters per year.