Facilité africaine de l’eau

African Water Facility website

• Date of agreement: Special Fund, established May 2004 and effective December 2004
• Current volume of the fund: Euro 130 million
• Financial contributors: AfDB, Algeria Australia , Austria, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Canada, Denmark, European Union, France, Norway, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, UK. More details

Background and Objectives

The African Water Facility (AWF) is an initiative of the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW). It is hosted and managed by the African Development Bank (AfDB). The overall purpose of the Facility is to assist African countries to mobilize and apply resources for the Water and Sanitation sector to help enable them to successfully implement the Africa Water Vision (2025) and meet the MDGs (2015). The AWF began its operations in 2006.

Areas of Focus / Sub-Sectors

AWF provides support in the following areas:

• Strengthening water governance by increasing African countries and regional organisations capacity to govern their water resources based on IWRM principles and cooperative arrangements;
• Meeting water needs through the preparation of programmes and projects that will attract follow on investments, and piloting innovative technologies and approaches that may lead to widespread adoption;
• Strengthening the financial base of African countries and regional organisations by attracting additional funding to the sector and ensuring more effective use of available funding;
• Improving water knowledge by increasing the capacity for informed decisions making to guide water development planning and implementation.

Administration and Governance Structure

• Governing council: Determines general policy direction and guides the operational activities of the Facility. Composed of 13 members: AMCOW (5), donors (5) NEPAD (1) UN-WATER (1) AfDB (1), and chaired by AMCOW Minister
• AfDB Board of Directors: Responsible for the general operations of the AWF Fund including project approval, approving projects beyond Euro 2 million and delegating approval for smaller projects as noted below.
• AfDB President: Approves projects between Euro 500,000 and Euro 2 million.
• Director/AWF: The administrative head of the Facility, responsible for the overall management of the Facility. Approves projects valued below Euro 500,000.
• Coordinator/AWF: Day-to-day management of the Facility and supervision of staff.

Technical Department and Task Manager
Akissa Bahri, Coordinator, African Water Facility
Tel: (216) 7110 3329

Partnerships and Cooperation Unit Focal Point
Khadidia Diabi, Principal Cooperation Officer
Tel: (216) 7110 3002