DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 10 -- IN a region built on rivers and growth, water has transitioned from a utility to a scarce commodity. While global attention typically fixes on the permanent climate emergencies of Somalia and Ethiopia, February 2026 has seen the crisis spill into the productive core of East Africa.

Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda are now facing a “structural squeeze”, a slow economic suffocation rather than a sudden famine. As rivers thin and soil hardens, the entire growth corridor is undergoing a hydrological stress test that exposes the fragility of it s progress.

The clearest signal comes not from a remote village, but from Dar es Salaam, Tanzanias commercial spine. The city depends heavily on the Ru...