The African Water Facility (AWF) has attracted €1.2 billion of follow-on investments for water management projects pledged by donors.

“This is a major achievement for AWF’s 10th anniversary,” said Akissa Bahri, the Coordinator of the AWF. The announcement was made during the 14th Governing Council Meeting, held in Tunis, Tunisia.

The Chair of the AWF Governing Council, Sarah Reng Ochekpe, Minister of Water Resources of Nigeria, commended the AWF for this achievement.

“The AWF provides an unparalleled opportunity to address the critical gaps that African countries face in the provision of water and sanitation to many needy people,” she said.

Over the past 10 years, the AWF, which is hosted by the African Development Bank, achieved a leverage ratio where each euro contributed by the AWF has on average attracted a further €40 in additional investment in the water sector in Africa.

AWF completed projects will benefit an estimated 3.2 million people with access to improved sanitation facilities and over 2.8 million people with access to improved drinking water sources.

Water management projects in Africa

Several projects were showcased and presented the role of the AWF in promoting innovations, as well AWF’s outcomes, impacts and benefits to target populations:

• A waterway feasibility study in Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia demonstrated the possibilities of a shipping route on the Shire and Zambezi rivers
• An irrigation project in Swaziland has impacted a community of almost 20,000 people through integrating stakeholders, especially local smallholders into the evolution of the project
• A stormwater drainage and solid waste management systems feasibility study in Burkina Faso led to 44 kilometres of road being asphalted and equipped with storm drainage structures and also lead to the construction of 20 garbage collection centers
• An integrated watershed management project in Kenya has helped increase the capacity of farming communities to monitor and manage their watersheds
• A water supply and development plan for the Seychelles will help overcome water shortages on the islands.