AU sets up N$649-billion water investment platform

Minister of agriculture, water and land reform Calle Schlettwein launched an African Union (AU) water investment platform with a project portfolio of US$37 billion (approximately N$649 billion) in Cairo, Egypt, on Sunday.

The platform is part of the AU’s Continental Africa Water Investment Programme (AU-AIP).

It will promote bankable projects and facilitate bringing the financing of Africa’s water sector to sustainable levels, Schlettwein said at the launch.

“Water resources are under increasing pressure due to demographic, economic, social and climatic changes and the ever-growing global demand for energy, food and water,” the minister said.

“Whether we have too little or too much water, we humans must survive together with other life on the planet,” Schlettwein said.

For Africa, an investment gap of approximately US$30 billion (N$526 billion) per year to achieve water security, according to the AU’s high-level panel on water investments for Africa, which is co-chaired by Namibia.

The capital requirements for Namibia to ensure bulk water supply up to 2037 stands at just above N$10 billion, said Schlettwein.

An additional investment between N$17 and N$25 billion over the next 10 years is required to meet the growing demand in Namibia, he said.

The new AU-AIP investment platform is digitally accessible to interested development partners, financiers and investors.

The AU has invited member states to submit priority projects that could form an AU-AIP project pipeline.

In total, 53 projects from 19 countries were submitted. About one third of the projects are part of national development or investment plans, Schlettwein said.

“As expected, there was no shortage of project proposals,” he continued.

The submitted projects are generally at an early stage of project preparation.

Twenty-one of the projects have not yet completed the pre-feasibility phase, according to the minister.

Another 22 projects have completed feasibility studies, with many already at the project structuring or financial close stage.
Ten projects are in the process of completing pre-feasibility studies.