“The African Development Bank is taking the African Water Facility to the next level through the Facility’s new 2026–2030 Strategy, which reflects a renewed determination to move from ambition to implementation,” said Dr Martin Fregene, Officer-in-Charge Vice President of the Bank’s Agriculture, Human and Social Development Complex, during a high-level side event on financing Africa’s water investments held on 27 May 2026 at the African Development Bank Annual Meetings in Brazzaville.
The event was jointly organized by the African Development Bank’s Water Development and Sanitation Department (AHWS) and the African Water Facility (AWF), in partnership with the African Union (AU), the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). It took place following the adoption of the Africa Water Vision 2063 and Policy in February 2026 and within the framework of the African Union’s designation of 2026 as the Year of “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063.”
Against the backdrop of Africa’s significant water investment gap, the meeting brought together a broad range of stakeholders, including political leaders, donors, development finance institutions, commercial and investment banks, private sector investors and philanthropic organizations, to translate commitments into concrete, financeable actions.
To date, the African Water Facility has helped mobilize more than EUR 4.2 billion in downstream investments through the preparation of investment-ready and bankable projects, responding to the continent’s growing demand for climate-resilient water and sanitation infrastructure.
Looking ahead, the Facility aims to strengthen private sector engagement and broaden its donor base, with a target of mobilizing at least EUR 90 million in core funding by 2030 to finance its operations. These resources are expected to support at least 30 transformative water and sanitation projects and catalyze more than EUR 800 million in downstream investments.
Aligned with the Africa Water Vision 2063 and Policy, the African Development Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy 2024–2033 and the Bank’s Four Cardinal Points, the AWF’s new Strategy will promote innovative approaches and financing instruments to develop robust pipelines of investment-ready projects, unlock financing commitments and strengthen investment partnerships.
The event reaffirmed that water and sanitation are investable assets capable of driving economic growth, regional integration and climate resilience. Building on this momentum, the African Development Bank and the African Water Facility will continue to strengthen collaboration with multilateral development partners, regional development banks, and national development and investment banks within the framework of the Bank’s New African Financing Architecture for Africa’s Development (NAFAD).