Fomi-dam Guinea: transboundary effects

7 January 2019

Since several years, Guinea plans to develop a large multi-purpose dam in the upper Niger river, the Fomi Dam. Irrigation, electricity and fisheries are some of the objectives. Various possible negative or positive impacts will occur in Mali. The Niger river catchment is managed by the Niger Basin Authority (NBA), consisting of nine member countries. The Guinea government asked the NCEA to advise on the draft scoping report, that provides guidelines for the content of the ESIA study. One of our main recommendations is "to jointly elaborate with the NBA a detailed procedure for the entire ESIA process in which the roles and responsibilities of the involved countries/authorities are clear and agreed upon." Early cooperation, transparency and stakeholder participation prevents conflicts in a later stage. Read the full advice, both available in English and French.