Libya-Algeria alliance on water: desalination and regional governance of the Sahara

Cooperation between Libya and Algeria in the water resources sector is emerging as one of the most significant issues in the context of North African regional security, against a backdrop of growing water stress, demographic pressure and the increasingly evident impacts of climate change. The meeting held on Tuesday 28 July in Algiers between the Algerian Minister for Water Resources, Lounas Bouzegza, and the Libyan Minister for Water Resources of the Government of National Unity, Hosni Mohamed Oweidan, led to the adoption of an operational roadmap aimed at establishing medium- and long-term technical and industrial cooperation. The agreement is structured around key areas that address the main vulnerabilities of the regional water system: the development of seawater desalination, the expansion of drinking water production, the treatment and reuse of wastewater, the sustainable management of groundwater, and the strengthening of infrastructure to protect against extreme events, including floods. A key element is the creation of joint technical working groups tasked with monitoring the implementation of the programmes, supported by a future supervisory committee responsible for strategic coordination.

At an operational level, the cooperation aims to transfer know-how and technological capabilities, with particular reference to Algeria’s experience in the design and management of desalination plants. The Libyan delegation’s site visit to the Fouka 2 plant, in the province of Tipasa, forms part of this approach: a step aimed at assessing models that could be replicated in Libya, where the deterioration of water infrastructure and the political instability of recent years have compromised the continuity of supply.

According to figures provided by Algiers, Algeria has 31 desalination plants with a total capacity of 3.68 million cubic metres per day, a strategic asset that enables the country to reduce its dependence on conventional resources and mitigate the effects of drought. The growing integration of desalination and renewable energy sources is also a key driver for keeping energy costs down and increasing the sustainability of water systems – an aspect of particular interest to Tripoli as well.

The bilateral dimension, however, forms part of a broader framework of regional water governance. The reference to the Northern Sahara Aquifer System – shared by Libya, Algeria and Tunisia – highlights the growing importance of transboundary groundwater reserves to the region’s strategic security. The ‘Tripoli Declaration’, signed last April by the three countries, laid the foundations for a coordinated approach to the use of this resource, with the aim of preventing overexploitation and tensions between states.

In this context, cooperation between Algiers and Tripoli also takes on geopolitical significance. On the one hand, it strengthens Algeria’s role as a technical and political hub in the management of North African water resources, consolidating its regional influence in an increasingly strategic sector. On the other hand, it offers Libya a practical pathway to stability by strengthening administrative and infrastructural capacities in a sector – that of water – which is directly linked to internal security and socio-economic stability. The climate dimension is the overarching factor accelerating this convergence. North Africa is among the regions most exposed to reduced rainfall and rising temperatures, with a direct impact on per capita water availability. Against this backdrop, investment in unconventional technologies, such as desalination and the reuse of wastewater, becomes essential for ensuring resilience. The roadmap agreed between Libya and Algeria therefore appears to be a building block in a broader reconfiguration of regional water policies, in which technical cooperation, resource security and environmental sustainability are converging. It now remains to be seen whether these commitments can be translated into concrete projects, in a context where political, financial and infrastructural variables continue to be critical factors.