Equitable access to clean water and sanitation must reach rural Africa, urge panelists at 21st African Water and Sanitation Congress | African Development Bank

Panelists at an event convened by the African Development Bank stressed the importance of involving rural residents in initiatives to improve access to water and sanitation, even in the face of challenging economic conditions.

The session, titled Maximizing the potential of the private sector in the water and sanitation sector in Africa to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6took place on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 21^st International Congress of the African Water Association and 7^e Conference on fecal sludge management in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

The discussion was moderated by Jeanne Astrid Fouegue-Ngako de Foki, African Development Bank Division Manager for Water Coordination and Partnerships, who expertly guided participants through a wide range of topics and insights.

Sustainable Development Goal 6 is to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. Panelists, representing the public and private sectors as well as civil society, called for comprehensive reviews of national water policies and an approach that differentiates between multinational corporations and small and micro enterprises.

Mali’s deputy national director of hydraulic engineering, Djoouro Bocoum, pointed out the disparities in services between urban and rural areas and called on the African Development Bank to help overcome this disparity. Thierry Barbotte, President of Odial Solutions, agrees. He said companies were forced to balance profitability with serving end users, but stressed that rural areas also needed water and sanitation infrastructure. Barbotte warned that it could take up to five years for investments in rural areas to pay off and suggested developing a system that would allow companies to absorb any losses during this period.

Basile Ebah, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SODECI, the Ivory Coast water distribution company, opened the session with a presentation on the now privatized entity and the role the partnership with the French company Eranove played in its development. Basile noted that former President Félix Houphouët-Boigny was instrumental in boosting the alliance as he attempted to consolidate Côte d’Ivoire’s economic miracle in the 1960s by expanding access to drinking water. Ebah stressed that governments play an essential role in creating good regulation to support the private sector.

Ralph Olaye, Eranove’s director of development and projects, offered some context in the form of statistics. According to figures from the African Development Bank, the development of the African water sector requires an investment of USD 40 billion per year. He said the private sector’s contribution to investment in the sector was only 2%, nothing that companies could bring much more than funding, such as valuable management expertise and services.

The conference will run from February 19-23 and will bring together experts, engineers, technicians, researchers and other stakeholders to discuss Africa’s water and sanitation challenges under the theme “Acting for sustainable resource management and access to water and sanitation for everyone”. The African Development Bank has organized panel sessions and exhibitions and will also host an exhibition stand to showcase projects.