Low annual contributions from member states and late payments are straining the Volta Basin Authority's finances, its executive director, Robert Y. Dessouassi, warned in Bamako on Monday, October 12. The situation has led about ten employees to resign and increased the workload of remaining staff, he said, according to the Malian Press Agency.
His warning came as a technical committee opened meetings scheduled for October 12-16 to prepare the authority's eighth ordinary Council of Ministers session. Experts are reviewing activities since May 2019, external audits, the 2027-2028 work programme and proposals to strengthen the institution. Mali's energy and water minister, Tiemoko Traoré, called for greater financial transparency and realistic recommendations ranked by priority.
The Council last held an ordinary session in Accra in May 2019. Dessouassi said its eighth session had originally been planned for late 2021. The current expert discussions prepare ministerial decisions; they do not amount to approval of the two-year programme or an announcement of new funding.
The authority brings together Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali and Togo to coordinate management of shared water resources. Its official institutional history records heads of state ratifying the founding convention in Ouagadougou on January 19, 2007. The convention entered into force on August 14, 2009.
Its work includes drought early warning and cross-border data sharing. At regional training held in Cotonou on August 18-20, 2026 under the REWarD project, the authority presented a system combining weather, water and agricultural monitoring with monthly bulletins for decision-makers. Participants recommended continuous provision of national data and further training in the tools, according to the authority.
