On the 31st of July 2026, the governments of Malawi, Mozambique and the United Republic of Tanzania (hereafter: Tanzania) signed the Ruvuma/Rovuma Establishment Agreement, paving the way for the establishment of the Ruvuma/Rovuma River Basin Commission. Previously, in 2008, Mozambique and Tanzania signed an agreement establishing the Ruvuma Joint Water Commission with the objective of pursuing the sustainable and equitable management of common waters of the Rovoma/Ruvuma River Basin. In doing so, the agreement covered a very large proportion of the basin – some 99.7%. However, 0,3% of the river basin is located in Malawi, and therefore to achieve a fully participatory and inclusive form of transboundary water management which covers 100% of the river basin, it was important that Malawi become a co-signatory to the agreements.
A major step towards this was taken on 31 July 2024, when the three countries signed an MoU in Dar es Salaam committing themselves to jointly develop institutions for transboundary water cooperation in the basin. Discussions had begun in September 2022, meaning that the subsequent Establishment Agreement was concluded in less than four years — according to IUCN, the fastest such water agreement to have been concluded within SADC.
According to IUCN, the current developments in transboundary cooperation will strengthen the governance of the basin, helping to provide support to millions of people through water supply, agriculture, fisheries, biodiversity conservation and other socio-economic activities. As a result of the tripartite agreement, the legal and institutional foundations have been laid for the establishment of a Ruvuma/Rovuma River Basin Commission for the joint planning, coordinated decision-making, information sharing and sustainable management of the basin’s shared water and ecosystem resources.
