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Poverty reduction and economic

transformation through water cooperation

Sering Jallow, Director, Water and Sanitation Department and African Water Facility, African Development Bank

he Africa Water Vision 2025 provides an important

framework for water cooperation in Africa. It envisages

“an Africa where there is an equitable and sustainable

use and management of water resources for poverty allevia-

tion, socioeconomic development, regional cooperation and

the environment.” However, more than 12 years after its

adoption the vision remains unfulfilled due mainly to high

water variability, competing demands on national budgets,

high costs of water infrastructure and their long implementa-

tion times. Africa is using only about 5 per cent of its annual

renewable water resources and less than 10 per cent of its

irrigation and hydropower potentials. Only around half of

African countries are likely to achieve the water Millennium

Development Goal (MDG), and less than 10 are likely to

achieve the sanitation MDG, with climate change causing

increasing havoc through more frequent floods and droughts

at high cost to African economies.

The overarching objective of the African Development Bank (AfDB)

is to contribute to sustainable economic development and social

progress in Africa. Its activities in the water sector are a vital compo-

nent for achieving the economic transformation envisaged in the

bank’s recently launched Ten-Year Strategy for 2013-2022. The

strategy focuses on two objectives to improve the quality of Africa’s

economic growth: inclusive growth and a transition to green growth.

In 48 years of supporting Africa’s development, coop-

eration and collaboration have been central to AfDB’s

efforts to leverage the finance needed to bridge the

continent’s infrastructure deficit, as well as to provide

policy guidance, technical assistance and build the

capacity needed to support development efforts. AfDB’s

water sector cooperation framework includes collec-

tive action at various scales ranging from global and

Africa-wide initiatives to project-level activities. The

bank also engages with its partners through different

forms of collaborative activities including advocacy,

networking for information sharing, coordination of

project activities, and more structured partnerships

such as participation in programmatic operations in

some countries. This cooperation has contributed to

much of the progress on the continent.

Collaboration at regional level

AfDB serves on the Board of Governors of the World

Water Council and collaborates on advocacy, policy

and strategic issues with organizations and partner-

ships such as Sanitation and Water for All (SWA),

the International Rescue Committee, the Rural Water

Supply Network, WaterAid, Oxfam, the African Civil

Society Network on Water and Sanitation and the

African Water Association. It works closely with the

United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board and

participates in a number of global thematic dialogues

such as the Water, Food and Energy Nexus dialogue,

Water and Disasters, and the Post-2015 Sustainable

Development Goals agenda.

Recognizing the need for strong political leader-

ship of the water sector in Africa, AfDB supported

the establishment of the African Ministers’ Council

on Water (AMCOW) as a body of the African Union

to lead the dialogue in the sector. It continues to

work with donors to support AMCOW’s advocacy for

increased prioritization and leveraging change in the

water sector. This includes supporting the organiza-

tion of the African Water Week series, leading Africa’s

preparations and participation in the different World

Water Forum events.

Much of Africa’s water resources are shared across

national boundaries, making interstate cooperation a

prerequisite for effective water management and avoid-

ing potential conflicts. AfDB sees regional infrastructure

inancing

ooperation

Massingir Dam, Mozambique

Image: AfDB