In this article, the author examines the main approaches to water management in Africa in the context of realizing the rightto clean water and sanitation. The features of both public and private water management, as well as the public-privateapproach, are shown. The author also presents as well the attempts to find a “third way” through decentralization of themanagement system based on the theoretical developments of Nobel Prize-winner E. Ostrom, a representative of the BloomingtonSchool. Differences in water management in urbanized areas and in rural areas of African countries are shown. Inthe latter case, the normative and value attitudes of the local community play an important role, and water is not only animportant economic resource, but also has great socio-cultural significance. The experience of Burkina Faso illustrates thekey role of the public operator in water supply, which has generally remained despite the structural adjustment programmesof the 1990s. The article presents the main features of the privatization of water management in the countries of the GlobalSouth and the expert criticism that has been gaining momentum in this regard. At the mid-2000s, the anti-privatizationagenda shifted to the promotion of the human right to clean water. The process of adoption of United Nations GeneralAssembly (UN GA) resolution 64/292 “The human right to water and sanitation” on 28 July, 2010 and the mechanisms forits implementation, including within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 6), as well as the place ofwater issues in the discussed draft of the International Covenant on the Right to Development are shown. The main stakeholdersof the global water governance mechanism within the UN and the World Bank are presented, and the special roleof leading water multinational corporations (MNCs) and specialized consulting firms, as well as France, are highlighted.Particular attention is paid to the implementation of the right to water on the Black Continent in Africa, including within theframework of the 2019 Guiding Principles on the Right to Water in Africa, Agenda 2063, and the Results Matrix, as well asin national legislation (the case of South Africa). The article ends with conclusions about the current state of implementationof the right to clean water in Africa.

This article was submitted on 10.06.2024.