Stockholm: AFRICAN Water Facility will on Tuesday next week launch the Africa Urban Sanitation Investment Initiative (AUSII) on the sidelines of the Stockholm World Water Week and together with the African Union’s AIP International High-Level Panel on Water Investments for Africa.
The Facility, hosted by the African Development Bank Group, is the only project preparation and promotion facility solely dedicated to water and sanitation in Africa.
The Africa Urban Sanitation Investment Initiative will function as a new financing window for urban sanitation within the African Water Facility, addressing the sanitation challenges in African cities.
Despite sanitation being a fundamental human right, critical to public health, environmental sustainability and overall well-being, Africa has one of the lowest access rates in the world.
ALSO READ: Launch of Cardiotan 2025 Conference: A New Era in Cardiovascular Care for Africa
An estimated 779 million people on the continent lack basic sanitation services, 208 million still practice open defecation and 839 million lack basic hygiene services.
The African Development Bank estimates that every year, the number of people without access to urban sanitation increases by more than 10 million, due to rapid population growth.
The African Water Facility will, through the new sanitation financing window, mobilise and deploy financing, prepare bankable and investment-ready projects, and implement innovative and inclusive approaches such as the city-wide inclusive sanitation approach, which promotes tailor-made sanitation solutions for neighbourhoods and cities.
Over the next ten years, the Facility aims to provide 15 million people with safely-managed sanitation services through 50 projects and attract $7 billion in additional investments.
The launch is open to African water ministers and representatives of donor institutions, observers, partners, development finance institutions, regional and river basin organisations, the private sector and media.