BY WAKHUNGU ANDANJE
There is urgent need to tackle the USD 6.7 trillion investment gap and the USD 22.6 trillion gap to 2030 and 2050 respectively for climate-resilient water infrastructure globally.
With Africa mobilizing just USD 10–19 billion annually against its USD 30 billion target for water infrastructure, an there is need for innovative financing models and public–private–philanthropic partnerships to bridge the gap.
Against this backdrop, and within the context of its G20 Presidency, South Africa has hosted the AU-AIP Africa water investment summit to mobilize climate-resilient water and sanitation investments that advance water security, economic growth, and sustainable development across the continent.
The united Arab emirates (UAE) in partnership with the republic of Senegal will bring together heads of states ministers, development finance institutions, private investors, project developers and civil society representatives to the water summit from convened in Cape town from August 13-15 2026.
The 2026 united nation (UN) water conference, in partnership with AUDA-(NEPAD), children investment fund foundation (CIFF), global water partnership (GWP) and the global climate finance centre (GCFC), co-hosted the high-level session “financing Africa’s water future: catalysing investment and partnerships a head to the 2026 UN water conference.”
The summit represents a key milestone on the road to the 2026 UN water conference, following last months adoption of its six interactive dialogue themes, by consensus.
The themes place a particular emphasis on “investments for water: financing, technology and innovation, and capacity building”, positioning the summit in Cape Town as a critical input to the preparatory process.
The session commenced by the co-hosts highlighting the political will needed to speed up water investments in Africa and globally.
The UAE assistant minister of foreign affairs for energy and sustainability Abdulla Balalaa, said “with all 193 member states having just agreed last month, by consensus, on the themes for the 2026 UN Water conference, the AU-AIP Africa water investment summit comes at exactly the right moment.
“It is a vital platform to advance one of those priorities — ‘Investments for Water’ — by driving the financing, innovation, and partnerships needed to deliver results for Africa and the world he stated.”
Setting the stage for Africa’s future prosperity, AUDA-NEPAD’s CEO Nardos Bekele -Thomas underscored water’s foundational role including affordable and reliable water access as the foundation upon which Africa’s prosperity will be set up.
“ We see every investment in water just like in health, stability, and economic growth and we continue building strong partnerships and unlocking innovative finance, to turn Africa’s vast demand and potential into tangible solutions that safeguard communities today and create sustainable futures for generations to come she added.”
The participants have highlighted four core themes, exploring concrete solutions :
Showcasing scalable financing models such as blended finance, concessional loans and guarantees tailored for water infrastructure,identifying policy regulatory and technical barriers blocking private investment and exploring solutions to de-risk projects,improving bankability and pipeline readiness through standardized metrics data transparency and aggregation platform and shaping the “Investments for water” theme for the 2026 UN water conference interactive dialogue on financing, technology and capacity-building.
Turning to the design of financing mechanisms, children investment fund foundation (CIFF) emphasized the need to collaborate with governments in order to close the water financing gap in Africa,pointing out that it is important that they design investment mechanisms alongside African governments, this is according to Richard Matikanya, deputy executive director of CIFF Africa.
“When national priorities dictates the agenda from the beginning, capital flows to the projects with the greatest need and the strongest local support. This is how we ensure lasting impact he added.”
The CEO of global conference centre ( GCFC’)s Mercedes Vela Monserrate said:
“GCFC is honoured to be supporting the water finance track ahead of the coming the 2026 UN water conference and we will translate today’s dialogue into actionable steps that mobilize private and philanthropic capital and deliver water solutions across Africa and other emerging markets.”
As part of their inclusive, transparent, and extensive consultation process, both the UAE and Senegal further used this plenary session to collect views from stakeholders on tangible recommendations and deliverables to fast track water investments in Africa, with the aim of showcasing these at the 2026 UN water conference.
