The African Development Bank explores Financial Instruments and cooperation with development stakeholders to support the Water Sector
A Consultative workshop on Financing and Cost Recovery in the African
Water Sector organized in Tunis by the African Development Bank (AfDB),
brought together representatives of regional member countries, multilateral
development partners, financial institutions, and other stakeholders such as
Private sector and civil society organizations to examine Financial
Instruments and Cooperation with development stakeholders with a view to
supporting the Water Sector in Africa.
The workshop was opened in Tunis on Tuesday by Mr. Joseph B. Eichenberger,
AfDB Vice President in charge of Policy, Planning and Budget. Mr. Kordjé
Bedoumra, Director of the African Water Facility, presented an overview of
the Bank’s water initiatives to the audience. The plenary session was
chaired by Mr. Philibert Afrika, Operations Policies and Review Department
Director. The Keynote Statement, describing Water and Sanitation financing
challenges was presented by Dr. William Muhairwe, Managing Director of
Uganda’s National Water and Sewerage Corporation.
The three-day stakeholder Consultative Workshop dealt with issues relating to “User Fees and Cost Recovery for Water, Sanitation and Irrigation projects to achieve Financial Sustainability” within the context of Integrated Water Resources Management. Participants also examined the findings of an AfDB-led study on “Financial Instruments to Facilitate Investment for Water Sector Infrastructure”. The purpose of this study is to promote dialogue between Bank staff and potential clients and beneficiaries, as well as to strengthen collaboration with specific institutions and agencies on the effective deployment of the financial instruments.
Participants discussed specific and standardized means of collaboration
between the AfDB and other institutions on utilizing financial instruments
to promote investment in water and, finally establishing networks to
facilitate follow-up activities and improvement of knowledge and information
on experiences in the water sector. The Draft Guidelines on User Fees and
Cost Recovery in the Water Sector will also be revised to take the proposals
and recommendations made at the Workshop into account.
In Africa, resources to provide infrastructure for irrigation, flood
control, electricity generation and water supply, among others, are in dire
need of financial resources. This has resulted in Africa’s water resources
being under-utilized. The potential for economic development in the
continent is thereby hampered. With the African continent lagging so far
behind in water and sanitation coverage levels as well as in irrigation and
hydropower, a lot needs to be done to increase financing of new
infrastructure while optimizing the use of existing infrastructure.
The projected costs of achieving African Water Vision targets and the
related MDGs amount to about US$20 billion per year. Current funding from
donor agencies and governments is not enough to cover these investment
needs. It is therefore imperative to mobilize funds from other sources if
the MDGs are to be achieved.
Contact information |
Sabrina Hadjadj Aoul
(email: s.hadjadjaoul@afdb.org) Phone: +216 71 10 36 98 |
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News type | Inbrief |
File link | n/a |
Source of information | AfDB |
Subject(s) | |
Relation | http://www.emwis.net/documents/fol195274 |
Geographical coverage | Africa |
News date | 16/06/2006 |
Working language(s) | ENGLISH |