Water Supply & Sanitation

Water and Supply in the African Development Context

• Access to water supply and sanitation in Africa was estimated in 2006 to be 64% and 38% respectively which compares unfavorably with corresponding world averages of 87% and 62%.
• Only 20% of the irrigation potential and about 6% of the hydropower potential has been developed.  Water storage capacity is less than 50 m3/person compared to about 3,500 m3/person in Europe, and 6,000 m3/person  in the USA.
• Less than 5% of agricultural land is irrigated.
• Africa has very little water storage capacity: only 200 cubic meters per capita compared with over 1,000 in most developing countries.
• 60 of Africa’s major rivers cross national borders; making international cooperation on water essential.
• Existing spending on water supply and sanitation is not enough to meet the Millennium Development Goals: the funding gap is over USD 9 billion per year.

Role of AfDB

The Bank has placed high priority on the water sector as a way of assisting Regional Member Countries (RMCs) to achieve the objectives of poverty reduction and economic growth because of the unique potential of this sector to contribute to achieving the other MDGs on poverty, health, education, and gender.  The Bank’s portfolio of interventions in the water and sanitation sector spans drinking water supply, water resources management, sanitation and hygiene, capacity building and policy reform among others. 

The Bank is currently financing more than 50 active projects in 29 countries amounting to about USD 2 billion.

The Bank aims at significantly increasing its interventions in rural water supply and sanitation while continuing to support urban and peri-urban water supply and sanitation and promoting integrated management of water resources.
In summary, the strategy seeks to:

• Increase water supply and sanitation financing
• Focus primarily on poorest 65% of population living in rural areas
• Provide some support for peri-urban areas, small and medium towns; and specifically for urban sanitation
• Promote transboundary water resources management
• Support the enabling environment to attract more resources

Moreover, the AfDB is also hosting a number of complementary initiatives which together enhance the effectiveness of the Bank’s work and provides vital resources for scaling up and for promoting innovation and supporting knowledge management activities.

The four main initiatives underpinning the Bank strategy in the water sector are the:

• Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI)
• African Water Facility (AWF)
• NEPAD Water and Sanitation Programme
• Multi-donor Water Partnership Programme (MDWPP)