But Africa is the second driest continent in the world, after Australia, and millions of Africans still suffer from water shortages throughout the year. Shortages are often due to problems of uneven distribution - sometimes there is much water where there are fewer people - and also to management of existing supplies that could be improved. One example of the disparity in water availability lies in the Congo basin where 30 per cent of the continent’s water drains land inhabited by only 10 per cent of Africa’s population.