What:        2025 Annual Meetings side event: Leveraging Water and Sanitation Investment in Africa – the Driving Role of the African Water Facility

Who:        African Development Bank, African Water Facility, Partners

When:      Tuesday, 27 May 2025; 16:00 – 17:30 GMT

Where:    Salle des Fêtes, Sofitel Abidjan Hotel Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

On the sidelines of the 2025 Annual Meetings, the African Development Bank Group and the African Water Facility will host discussions on investments in water and sanitation in Africa.

This side event aims to showcase the essential role of the African Water Facility in supporting African Development Bank regional member countries in achieving their water and sanitation goals while exploring new partnership opportunities. Discussions will center on the African Water Facility’s vision of equitable water resource management to alleviate poverty, drive socioeconomic development, foster regional cooperation, build climate resilience, and enhance environmental protection.

The African Water Facility is a project preparation fund that mobilizes financing for infrastructure development in water and sanitation across Africa. It provides grants, technical assistance, investment support to governments, and partnerships to implement sustainable water projects.

The program will showcase highlights and impact from 20 years of operation and future ambitions under the African Water Facility’s new 2026 – 2030 Strategy, including an overview of the Africa Urban Sanitation Investment Initiative, the Facility’s financing window for sanitation projects.

A panel discussion will address critical aspects of achieving universal water and sanitation access, including preparing bankable projects, the post-2025 African Water Vision and policy framework by the African Union, the evolving funding mechanisms for water infrastructure, private sector engagement in water and sanitation infrastructure delivery, and Africa Urban Sanitation Investment Initiative as an innovative partnership model.

The event is expected to draw a diverse audience, including representatives from government and regional organisations, donors and international institutions, water sector experts, policymakers, private sector stakeholders, and academia.

The African Water Facility is an initiative of the African Ministers' Council on Water, hosted and managed by the African Development Bank. Since 2006, the Facility has provided multiple grants totalling €220 million covering 148 projects and mobilized €2.1 billion in downstream investment. These projects have provided 11.3 million people with access to sanitation, improved access to water supply for 23.2 million people, and equipped 2 million hectares with irrigation. The Facility’s current project pipeline is valued at €90 million, which will benefit 15 African countries.