4 African countries cooperated on Senegalo-Mauritanian Aquifer

• The four West African countries- Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania and Senegal- have signed a joint declaration to advance transboundary cooperation in the Senegal-Mauritanian Aquifer Basin (SMAB).
• They have agreed to establish a legal and institutional framework for cooperation on SMAB.
• This would be the first such mechanism in West Africa and pave the way for strengthened collaboration on shared groundwater resources worldwide.

About SMAB:

• The Senegalo-Mauritanian aquifer basin is the largest basin in the Atlantic margin of north-west Africa, having an area of 350,000 square kilometres.
• More than 24 million inhabitants of the region are dependent on it for drinking water and other needs.