Water Management and the provision of safe sanitation services, being a public good, rarely attract private investment, which explains – in part – the limited success of numerous initiatives for Public-Private Partnerships in the sector in Africa. Indeed a number of River/Lake Basin Organisations (R/LBOs) have in the past 10 years conducted relevant studies and developed investment plans, the implementation of which is still constrained by inability to attract investment. However, it goes without saying that inadequate provision of safe sanitation services has grave implications for freshwater availability, not to mention being a key factor in environmental degradation in Africa.
"It is important to invest in research and promote new innovations to advance implementation of programmes in the water sector", said Dr. Kenneth Msibi, Policy and Strategy Expert in the SADC secretariat Water Division.
GWP Central America is part of the organising committee for the sub-regional process leading up to the 8th World Water Forum, to be held in Brasilia, March 2018. In this capacity, GWP Central America, together with GWP Caribbean, held an online consultation to identify cross-cutting themes and topics that will be discussed at the Forum next year. The results were presented at the 2nd Stakeholders Consultation Meeting in Brasilia, on April 26-27.
Water and energy are both strategic resources that are fundamental to economic development, industrialisation and creation of much needed jobs in Southern Africa.
The Dialogue on “Governance and Financing of water projects in Lebanon: Private Sector Participation and the role of Banks in investments” was successfully launched on 27 March 2017, representing a strategic synergy of the UfM/Sida project “Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector” and the European Union funded project “Sustainable Water Integrated Management (SWIM)-Horizon 2020 Support Mechanism”.
The Dialogue on “Governance and Financing of water projects in Lebanon: Private Sector Participation and the role of Banks in investments” was successfully launched on 27 March 2017, representing a strategic synergy of the UfM/Sida project “Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector” and the European Union funded project “Sustainable Water Integrated Management (SWIM)-Horizon 2020 Support Mechanism”.
On Wednesday 22nd March, 2017, GWPSA’s Executive Secretary and Head of Africa Coordination Unit, Mr. Alex Simalabwi, together with GWPSA programme staff attended the United Nations World Water Day Summit and Expo in Durban, South Africa to mark the 2017 World Water Day global celebrations under the theme “Wastewater”. The summit and expo were hosted by the Department of Water and Sanitation, in partnership with the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government and UN Water.
