Maputo — Senior technical staff from the eight southern African counties which share the Zambezi basin held a working meeting in Maputo on Friday to discuss the next steps in implementing the strategy to develop and manage the water resources of the basin.

The strategy presented to participants lays down basic recommendations to be followed by the eight countries in order to benefit from the potential offered by the Zambezi basin in terms of electricity, fisheries, tourism, agriculture, industry and water supply.

The meeting also discussed how to consolidate a platform for exchange of data that will improve management of joint projects along the basin.

The eight countries are Mozambique, Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Tanzania and Malawi. The formal establishment of the Zambezi Commission, that will manage the basin, requires two thirds of these countries to ratify the agreement creating the commission. So far only four (including Mozambique) have done so.

Mozambique's Deputy Minister of Public Works, Gabriel Muthisse, told the meeting that the immediate challenge was for the other countries, particularly Zambia and Zimbabwe, to ratify the agreement.

Only when the commission was duly established, he said, could the development strategy be put into operation. This would entail identifying and designing joint projects, and mobilising funding and partnerships.

"In addition to maintaining the basin, a further challenge is the joint management of extreme events such as floods", said Muthisse, "through better sharing of information, in order to avoid massive destruction in the countries affected".