Francois Olivier Gosso, the executive director of the African Water and Sanitation (Afwasa), has called on the governments on the continent to rally investors into the water sector following the recent unprecedented aid and funding withdrawal by major western partners.
This comes after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending USAID operations on January 31 this year. USAID was one of the major funding partners for water and sanitation projects in many African countries.
Another major partner to the water sector, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, also froze its support last year.
Speaking on Sunday at the training workshop for journalists from across the continent in Kampala at Speke Resort, Munyonyo, Gosso challenged African countries to find sustainable solutions in the aftermath of such funding partners.
“We need to come up with our finances; for example, we should open the water sector for investors to invest in the sector and people pay for the services like it has been done in some Asian countries,” Gosso said.
He added: “As Afwasa, we are supporting professionals in the water and sanitation sector to share knowledge and solutions for common challenges on the continent.
“We need to take a much more integrated approach to solve these challenges through dissemination of knowledge and sharing good practices.”
To fast-track the aforesaid strategy, Gosso said the African Water Academy, to be launched in Kampala this week, will help the association in achieving this goal.
In the meantime, more than 2,000 participants have been confirmed for the 22nd African Water and Sanitation Congress and Exhibition that will open this afternoon at the Speke Resort, Munyonyo.
They include professionals from different water utilities on the continent, policymakers, political leaders, civil society advocacy groups dealing in water and sanitation issues, among others.
