Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – August 21, 2025 – African leaders, global investors, and development partners gathered at the African Union–Africa Investment Programme (AU-AIP) Water Investment Summit, placing water at the centre of diplomacy, development, and investment. With an estimated $30 billion annual water investment gap, the summit underscored both the urgency and the opportunity to transform water from a source of scarcity into a strategic driver of growth and peace.
Water diplomacy: From scarcity to stability
Across the continent, water scarcity is fuelling migration, worsening inequality, and in some regions, contributing to conflict. The summit framed water not merely as a development challenge but as a matter of diplomacy and security.
“Water security is peace and prosperity,” said AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat. “When we close the investment gap, we safeguard Africa’s future.”
With over 60 transboundary river basins and aquifers, Africa’s water resources cut across borders. The AU urged states to strengthen cross-border cooperation, reduce tensions, and embed water diplomacy into regional integration efforts.
Partnerships driving solutions
A major outcome of the summit was a renewed push for public-private partnerships (PPPs). Governments pledged to ease regulatory bottlenecks, while private investors expressed interest in funding water treatment plants, pipelines, and irrigation systems.
Bahr Al-JabalAerial view of the Baḥr Al-Jabal (Mountain Nile) and Juba, South Sudan.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) committed new financing streams to co-fund projects with governments and private sector actors. “No single government can close a $30 billion gap alone,” said South Africa’s Minister of Water and Sanitation. “By aligning public policy with private capital, we can accelerate delivery and resilience.”
Impact on communities
The summit also spotlighted the human cost of inaction. In rural Kenya, women and children still walk hours daily to fetch water, a burden that keeps girls out of school. In West Africa, changing rainfall patterns are shrinking harvests, threatening food security and livelihoods.
Delegates stressed that bridging the investment gap could reverse these trends. Safe and reliable water access means healthier families, children who stay in classrooms, and farmers who can withstand climate shocks.
From pledges to pipelines
While the AU-AIP Summit generated ambitious commitments, African citizens will be watching closely for delivery. The next challenge lies in turning high-level pledges into tangible infrastructure pipelines, boreholes, reservoirs, and treatment plants that reach the communities most in need.
Still, the summit marked a significant diplomatic step forward. By treating water as a shared strategic asset, African leaders are reframing the narrative: water is not just life it is leverage for peace, prosperity, and sustainable growth.