UCT Inaugural Lecture of Professor Djiby Thiam

The University of Cape Town invites you to an inaugural lecture by Professor Djiby Thiam

Topic: The economics of water and climate resilience: Lessons learned from African experiences

This lecture argues that effective and context-dependent environmental policies are essential for integrating sustainable water management with climate change mitigation. It demonstrates this by examining several pieces of evidence that explore the relationship between water planning and management, climate mitigation, and economic performance across some African countries. Understanding the economics of water resource management and climate change mitigation measures is of paramount importance for reducing the negative impacts that water scarcity and adverse environmental hazards might have on the global economy. Water is linked to many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), either directly or indirectly. From agriculture to industry, water resources are key to ensuring higher business productivity. The current geopolitical uncertainty, combined with several structural transformations observed in many countries, mainly in the Global South, exacerbates the interdependency between water and other economic objectives. In such a context, several growing concerns affect water systems. Examples of such concerns cover the need to (i) reconcile optimal surface and groundwater allocation to support labour-intensive industries (agriculture, mining) to promote employment, (ii) optimally manage water resources to guarantee the performance of infrastructures, (iii) address water-driven climate-related concerns through the adoption of mitigation measures, and (iv) develop a better understanding of factors influencing water use efficiency.

The lecture will present evidence linking water economics to climate resilience to support productivity across several sectors, including agriculture and industry. Most of the existing conventional environmental economic tools have been tested in institutional settings that capture governance structures of industrialised economies. Yet, the world is changing with the BRICS countries, including South Africa, playing a more active role in the global economy. These changes call for a reassessment of some environmental and development economic paradigms to reflect on how public policies could be implemented in regions that exhibit alternative socio-institutional frameworks. This lecture will explore different mechanisms through which technologies, institutions and public policies might contribute to supporting such a paradigm change.

Date: Thursday, 30 July 2026

Time: 17:00 SAST

Venue: SOE Seminar Room. Level 4, School of Economics Building, Middle Campus

About our speaker

Professor Djiby Thiam is a professor of Economics in the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town (UCT). He is the director of the research unit: Water and Production Economics. Professor Thiam is internationally renowned and a leading expert in environmental and resource economics. His research focuses on water resources economics, agricultural economics, and development economics. He has extensively published in leading scientific journals in the field. Beyond his research activities, Professor Thiam is an active mentor who provides leadership to support capacity building across different levels at UCT.

He has coordinated various research projects, both domestically and internationally, in water and resources economics, agricultural economics, and development economics. He leads a research team of postdocs, PhD and Master's students, all working on various issues related to water, development, and resource economics applied in South Africa and Africa as a continent. His work looks at (i) the efficiency of water use in agriculture, (ii) the factors that drive the adoption of index-based drought insurance, (iii) the evolution of the hydrological cycle under various climate and socio-ecological changes, and (iv) the questions of land subsidence that affect groundwater management and water supply infrastructure planning.

Professor Thiam has played a key role in supporting the next generation of African scientists. In 2023, he received funding from the Volkswagen Foundation in Germany to provide training to early-career scientists in Cape Town. He provided scholarly input to the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and the United Nations. He hosted the 11th biennial Rosenberg Forum on International Water Policy, funded by the Bank of America. Professor Thiam has been a member of the Technical Working Group on Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change for agri-food systems, advising the African Union on the Post-Malabo Agenda during the preparation of the Kampala declaration. He is also a Non-Executive director for the Federation of Sustainable Environment in South Africa.