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Environment
Surina Esterhuyse, Senior Lecturer Centre for Environmental Management, University of the Free State

Oil drilling threatens the Okavango River Basin, putting water in Namibia and Botswana at risk

Oil exploration could put the Okavango Delta at risk. Photo: Sergio Pitamitz/VWPics/Universal Images/ Getty Images

The Namibian and Botswana governments may be risking their water resources for oil and gas revenue. They have licensed a Canadian firm, ReconAfrica, to prospect for oil in the Cubango Okavango River Basin, in an area covering 34,000km².

In total, the river basin covers 700,000km², encompassing a network of river systems across Angola, Namibia and Botswana. The Cubango and Cuito rivers, which originate from the Angolan highlands, join the Okavango River at the border between Angola and Namibia, and flow into the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

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