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inancing

ooperation

as an important means of supporting Africa’s development and is

collaborating with the African Union Commission, the United

Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the New Partnership

for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Planning and Coordinating

Agency in the development and implementation of the Programme

for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA). The water-related

components of the programme target the development of multi-

purpose dams, exploitation of extensive transboundary aquifers,

and capacity building for Africa’s lake and river basin organizations

so they can plan and develop hydraulic infrastructure to improve

Africa’s water and food security. PIDA allows for developing the

continent’s huge hydropower potential for its industrial transforma-

tion, as well as increasing access to safe drinking water for addressing

health, education and gender-related issues. Water infrastructure is

also contributing to mitigation of the water-related challenges posed

by climate change and variability.

In order to address the very low access rates for rural water

supply and sanitation (RWSS) services, AfDB initiated the Rural

Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI) in 2003. RWSSI is

a regional initiative which provides a common collaboration frame-

work between African governments and international development

partners for resource mobilization and investment to meet the MDGs

and Africa Water Vision 2025 targets. By the end of 2012, AfDB had

invested about US$1.3 billion in financing 37 rural water supply and

sanitation programmes in 27 countries. Several donors are support-

ing the initiative through their bilateral or multilateral channels, and

an estimated US$4.2 billion has been leveraged through the support

of other donors and the African governments. This collaborative

effort has so far contributed to bringing access to rural water supply

and sanitation to 56 million and 41 million people respectively.

Regional water initiatives supported by AfDB include those

under the East African Community, the Economic Community

of West African States, the Intergovernmental Authority on

Development, the Southern African Development Community

(SADC) and all the major river and lake basins (Nile, Volta,

Congo, Niger, Senegal, Gambia, Lake Chad and Lake Victoria).

These initiatives involve developing integrated water resources

management (IWRM) plans, financing feasibility studies, capac-

ity building activities and investments. AfDB is leading resource

mobilization initiatives for a number of regional and subregional

entities such as the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought

Control in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin Commission. In

East Africa AfDB is collaborating with the United Nations Human

Settlements Programme (UNHABITAT) and the Lake Victoria

Basin Commission through a major regional water and sanitation

programme that targets 15 urban centres in the immediate vicinity

of the lake in the five riparian countries. The bank is also working

with SADC to support three of its member countries (Tanzania,

Zimbabwe and Mozambique) through the Shared Watercourses

Support Project for Buzi, Save and Ruvuma River Basins.

Collaboration at country level

At the country level, cooperation with regional member countries

(RMCs) and their development partners plays an important role in

the way AfDB supports the water sector. Many of the 62 water and

sanitation projects in 35 countries with about US$3 billion of bank

financing in the current portfolio were developed in collaboration

with other donors or are co-financed with them. Through its decen-

tralized structure and in line with the Paris Declaration principles

AfDB collaboration at country level

Mali

– AfDB currently leads a group of 14 donors

within the consultative framework that brings together

government and donors to jointly support the national

water and sanitation programme (Programme Sectoriel

d’Eau et Assainissment). The framework is based on a

three-year rolling medium-term expenditure framework

that establishes the financing required to meet sector

objectives, takes into account existing government and

donor commitments and identifies the financing gaps to

be addressed by partners.

Sierra Leone

– AfDB is a member of the Development

Partners forum, which enables information sharing

and discussion of issues regarding support to Sierra

Leone’s development agenda, including the water and

sanitation sector. The bank is now working closely

with the Government, the Department for International

Development (DfID), the Global Environment Fund and

RWSSI Trust Fund partners to support a Rural Water

Supply and Sanitation Project with an estimated cost of

US$43 million. DfID’s funding will be channelled through

AfDB’s Fragile States Facility.

Tanzania

– AfDB and other partners (KfW, World

Bank, Agence Française de Développement, DfID,

UNICEF, European Union, Millennium Challenge

Corporation, Water Aid and the governments of Belgium,

Japan, South Korea and Norway) are supporting the

water sector SWAp through the Government’s Water

Sector Development Programme. AfDB funding is

earmarked for rural water supply and sanitation.

Uganda

– within Uganda’s broader donor

coordination framework and SWAp for the WSS sector,

AfDB is a member of the Water and Sanitation Sector

Development Partners Group which enables the bank, in

collaboration with several other development partners,

to jointly enhance the efficiency, effectiveness and

coherence of their assistance to the sector. AfDB is

currently involved in joint technical sector reviews for the

Uganda Water and Sanitation Project and is co-financing

the Kampala Sanitation Programme with KfW.

A joint sector review meeting in Uganda

Image: AfDB