Despite water being a vital resource for all living things worldwide, equal access is scarce, especially in Africa, a disparity that the African Union (AU) is fervently working to address.
The union held the annual AU Summit from Feb. 11-15 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, under the theme “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063.”
As part of the mission, the continental union created the Africa Water Vision 2063 and Policy framework, which places water as a crucial factor in transforming Africa into a global powerhouse of the future — Agenda 2063’s main goal. Per the recently introduced plan, if Africa has access to clean water, it will catalyze the elimination of poverty and hunger while promoting industrialization and climate resilience.
“Despite the abundance of water resources on the continent, we continue to see countless situations where African citizens are deprived of safe access to drinking water and adequate sanitation, which is a collective challenge that requires courageous, integrated and sustainable responses,” said João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of Angola and Chairperson of the AU.
Africa contains 9% of the world’s freshwater, making it the fourth largest continental supply of the resource. According to UNICEF, in 2022, 418 million people across Africa lacked basic drinking water services, 779 million did not have basic sanitation services and 839 million lacked basic hygiene services.
While progress has been made in the last two decades, members of the AU recognize there is still more work to be done. Under the guidance of the Africa Water Vision of 2025, commissioned by the World Water Council in 2000, Malawi reduced untreated wastewater by 80%, Senegal distributes at least 10% of its budget to water and sanitation services and others like Egypt and Tunisia have put an end to public defecation.
According to the 2024 Africa Water and Sanitation Sector Monitoring Report, half of the continent’s population is at a disadvantage regarding sound access to safely managed drinking water, 1 in 7 people defecate publicly, and sanitation and hygiene financing averages 0.25% in gross domestic product, not meeting the 0.5% goal. Africa is also heavily dependent on external funding in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) budgets, comprising 78%, which could threaten resource sovereignty and sustainability.
“Water investment is a catalyst for transformation. It strengthens food security, drives industrial growth, reduces health care costs, and it creates jobs for the growing population,” said Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, during the AU Summit. “However, to meet the [U.N. Sustainable Development Goal] 6 targets, we have to close an estimated investment gap of about US$30 billion annually.”
From Resource Sovereignty to Sustainable Stability
Currently, only $10 to $19 billion is invested annually in water security and sustainable sanitation.
To accelerate funding into the WASH sectors, the AU Heads of State adopted the Continental Africa Water Investment Program (AIP) in 2021 as part of the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).
“The efforts we have undertaken to build the Africa we want cannot be fully realized without making significant investments that deliver tangible results in the water and sanitation sector,” Lourenço said.
The initiative urges leaders to prioritize shrinking the water access gap, increase transparency and accountability regarding efforts to finance water needs, encourage the adoption of innovative financing measures to build resource sovereignty, promote gender equality in decision-making, and incorporate water funding into economic planning.
With the successful implementation of the AU-AIP, the continent of Africa can make strides toward becoming a major actor on the world stage, as plans like these foster independence and less dependency on external forces. If leaders can address and make progress in mending their water access disparities, then they note economic and health autonomy could be easier to achieve, potentially bringing forth stability, peace and self-sufficiency across the continent.
“This is 2026, not 1946,” said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, expressing his displeasure that no permanent African seats exist in the U.N. Security Council.
Although African nations represent 54 of the 193 member states of the General Assembly, and the continent accounts for approximately 18% of the world’s population, it is the only region in the international organization that isn’t represented in the Permanent Five.
“Whenever decisions about Africa and the world are on the table, Africa must be at the table,” Guterres continued.
Lourenço emphasized the interconnection of all injustices and instabilities that African nations face, acknowledging that the road to an abundant, self-reliant and secure continent requires a multifaceted, collaborative approach.