Africa: Continent can’t afford more bad hydro

At the African Ministerial Conference on Hydro power and Sustainable Development (held in Johannesburg the week of March 6) the African Rivers Network (ARN) issued a cautionary to African governments that poorly planned hydro power will cost Africa more than it's worth. They further cautioned that when calculating the cost of building dams and hydro power plants the social, environmental and economic costs must be considered. Frank Muramuzi, coordinator of ARN said that hydro power is not necessarily the solution to Africa's water and energy needs. "There exists a range of options for Africa, other than hydro power that should be considered. Africa should develop its own approach – what works in the rest of the world may not necessarily work in Africa."