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inancing

ooperation

on aid effectiveness, AfDB is playing an increasingly prominent role

in donor coordination activities and in joint sector operations such

as sector reviews, especially in those countries where a sector-wide

approach (SWAp) is being implemented.

AfDB values cooperation with non-governmental organizations

(NGOs) in view of their positive impacts on project development

and implementation. For example, on the Kibera Water Supply

and Sanitation Programme in Kenya, NGOs with expertise in

slum areas are engaged in capacity building and coordination of

the construction of water and sewer lines and ablution blocks. The

NGOs’ intervention has enabled the bank and the water utility to

better address a number of social issues including the resettlement

of displaced persons. Cooperation with NGOs is also common on

rural water supply and sanitation projects financed by AfDB, as they

are often involved in working with communities on project planning

and implementation.

Cooperation through trust funds

Trust funds provide an additional technical and financial instrument

for cooperation and support, complementing AfDB’s traditional

lending activities. The Water and Sanitation Department (OWAS)

manages three trust funds, each contributing in different ways

towards the bank’s objectives.

The Multi Donor Water Partnership Programme (MDWPP), estab-

lished in 2002, has been supported by three donors (Canada, Denmark

and the Netherlands) and has the broad objective of operationalizing

AfDB’s IWRM policy within the bank and in the RMCs. The MDWPP

supports the work of several sector departments includ-

ing OWAS, Agriculture and Agribusiness, NEPAD and

Regional Integration, and Energy, Environment and

Climate Change (ONEC). The MDWPP has contrib-

uted significantly towards strengthening AfDB’s IWRM

capacity, building awareness of IWRM issues within and

outside the bank, improving knowledge on IWRM issues

and facilitating sector dialogue.

As part of its role in leveraging funds for Africa’s water

sector, AfDB supported AMCOW to establish the African

Water Facility (AWF) in 2004. AWF represents a major

cooperation effort between 15 bilateral donors, multi-

lateral financial institutions, foundations and African

governments (Algeria, Australia, Austria, the Bill and

Melinda Gates Foundation, Burkina Faso, Canada,

Denmark, the European Union, France, Norway, Senegal,

Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and AfDB). It is

hosted and managed by the bank. AWF mainly supports

project preparation designed to attract follow-up invest-

ment. By the end of 2012 it had attracted EUR20 for

every euro invested, bringing the total financing lever-

aged to EUR714 million.

AWF is implementing much of AfDB’s work in

transboundary water resources management (TWRM)

across the continent by promoting the development

of cooperative legislative frameworks for effective

TWRM, strengthening inter-basin and intra-basin

Collaboration with the World Bank

Collaboration between AfDB, the World Bank and WSP

was formalized in 2006 and led to a WSP liaison office

being opened at AfDB headquarters in Tunis in 2007

for a three-year period. Collaboration during this period

included the following.

On knowledge sharing and capacity building, joint

workshops were held and joint publications produced.

At the operational level, there were joint supervision

missions with appraisals in eight countries and mutual

contributions to project preparation. There were also 12

joint sector reviews, joint financing of budgetary reviews

in three countries and co-financing of water sector

projects in seven countries.

AfricaSan 2008 led to a joint review of the sanitation

and hygiene status in 32 countries and the eThekwini

Declaration with its call for country action plans to

address the sanitation MDG. The first Africa Water Week

resulted in outputs endorsed by the African Union and

G8 summits. AfDB and WSP contributed to the launch of

the Pan-African Monitoring and Evaluation Assessment

in Tunis in 2006. Country Status Overviews were

carried out in 16 countries and a Sector Information

Management Workshop was held in Nairobi in 2007.

Credit rating assessments were produced for seven

African utilities with a view to contributing towards

increased operational efficiency and preparing water

utilities for accessing market finance. WSP and AWF

also supported the setting up of the Water Operators

Partnership – Africa.

AfDB is continuing its cooperation with the World

Bank on WSS issues. Current plans include joint

financing of the Port Harcourt Urban Water Supply

and Sanitation Project in Nigeria, joint support for a

water sector SWAp in Ethiopia and a joint programme

evaluation mission in Tanzania.

A working session between AfDB and WSP in Tunis

Image: AfDB