Our Strategic Pillars

Project Preparation

The African Water Facility supports the preparation of bankable, investment-ready projects to mobilize and secure investment for the implementation of key water-related infrastructure and services.

The primary strategic focus for African Water Facility operations will remain the preparation of projects and programmes that optimise multipurpose water resources development and use.

The core activity will consist of feasibility studies and designs that validate and develop a project concept to an investment-ready stage, along with project structuring and transactional advisory activities as needed to make a project bankable, ready to secure public and/or…

Catalytic Investments

African Water Facility will deploy small but catalytic investments, or seed funding, that will enable project owners to implement their projects. As part of co-financing arrangements, support will primarily be provided to projects that:

• Replicate or pilot innovative or alternative business models and technologies, whether through the public sector or commercialization
• Mobilise private sector financing but that need some Viability Gap Funding

Projects expected to be financed include basic water and sanitation services, irrigation schemes that benefit smallholder (often women and the youth) farmers, and small-scale hydropower.

Investment Promotion

Make the water sector more attractive to investors and private operators.

The Investment Promotion priority aims to increase the number of investment projects and amounts of funding for water in Africa, beyond what African Water Facility can achieve through the specific projects it prepares, and at the same time contribute to accelerating the process from project identification to financial close.

African Water Facility aims to galvanise interest in sector amongst financiers, and in particular, make the sector more attractive to private investors and operators.

African Water Facility will assume a broader role as…

Water Governance

The enabling environment at all levels for the planning, preparation, and implementation of water infrastructure projects, and for the sustainable management and development of water resources in Africa is weak and unable to effectively support socio-economic development, environmental sustainability, and climate resilience.

At the heart is improving water governance, defined as “the set of rules, practices, and processes through which decisions for the management of water resources and services are taken and implemented, stakeholders articulate their interest and decision-makers are held accountable” (OECD, 2016). Policy and regulatory frameworks that facilitate Integrated Water…