Africa Urged to Recognize Water as Critical Resource, Enabler for Sustainable Dev’t

Addis Ababa, May 27, 2025 (ENA) – Africa must recognize water as a critical resource and an enabler for sustainable socio-economic development, African Union Commission stressed.

The African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) jointly convene the 3rd African Implementation and Partnership Conference on Water (PANAFCON3) in Lusaka, Zambia.

Hosted by the Republic of Zambia, the three day conference is being held under the theme “Assuring Inclusive and Climate-Resilient Water Security and Sanitation for the Africa We Want”.

The conference will pave way for Member States and partners to review the initial draft of the post-2025 Vision and Policy framework for assuring water security and sanitation for peace and development in Africa.

In his statement at the opening ceremony, delivered by AUC Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment, Moses Vilakati, AUC Chairperson, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf emphasized the importance of water resources for sustainable development.

He stressed the need for Africa to recognize water as a critical resource and an enabler for sustainable socio-economic development as continent’s aspirations for economic growth; social transformation; regional integration; trade; peace and security, collectively coined as Africa’s Agenda 2063, is dependent on sustainable water availability.

 

Africa cannot achieve the Aspiration of Agenda 2063 or the Sustainable Development Goals without reliable supply of water, he underscored.

The Water Vision and Policy alone does not take Africa far. “We need to Act. Africa needs to Act - through developing and implementing its water investment program towards climate resilient and inclusive water security.”

“The African Union Commission has been elevating the water and sanitation issues to the level of Heads of State and Government, and promoting direct connection of water with national development plans. This is a critical paradigm shift, not only in our approach of managing our water resources but also in our appreciation and valuing of water.”

Despite abundant water resources both surface and underground ones, he noted However, he stated that Africa still has about 400 million people without access to safely managed water and 800 million without access to sanitation.

Climate change is one of the major challenges of our time and it is threatening our water resources and affecting the pattern and distribution of precipitation on our continent, he pointed out.

 

“As the African Union Commission, we are working with partners to develop multi-country programs aimed at supporting member states to access readiness funding from the Green Climate Fund, in order to help them build resilience of their water sector to the impacts of climate change.”

Africa needs to Act- through developing and implementing its water investment projects to ensure water security for all, he said.

“Africa needs to Act- through mobilizing investment and finance for water security, mainly focusing on domestic sources of finance.”

The Chairperson further announced that AUC in collaboration with the Government of South Africa is organizing the Africa Water Investment Summit which will take place from 13-15 August 2025 in Cape Town, as part of South Africa’s Presidency of G20.

He expressed AUC’s commitment to ensure that the new Africa Water Vision and Policy is formulated and adopted to place water and sanitation at the very heart of achieving the African Union’s Agenda 2063.   

The conference responds to the urgent need for coordinated, African-led solutions to challenges of water scarcity, climate change, and sustainable infrastructure, it was noted.