Southern African Nations Launch Climate-Resilient Water Investment Program
The initiative is set to be a key topic at the upcoming Summit of SADC Heads of States on August 17 in Harare, Zimbabwe.
PRETORIA, South Africa— The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has initiated a regional program to enhance climate resilience and water security across 13 member countries, officials announced Friday, writes Winston Mwale.
The SADC Regional Climate Resilient Water Investment Programme (SADC-AIP) aims to address the increasing frequency and severity of climate hazards threatening water, energy, and food security in the region.
The initiative comes as several SADC countries, including Namibia, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, have declared states of emergency due to severe drought.
Dr. Patrice Kabeya, Senior Programme Officer for Water at the SADC Secretariat, emphasized the program's urgency: "The increasing frequency and severity of climate hazards threaten existing investments in water, energy, food security, human health, and socio-economic development. Many African countries suffer from inadequate access to functional climate information and early warning systems."
The Green Climate Fund is providing an initial $1.5 million grant for project preparation. The program seeks to leverage at least $117 million and is expected to benefit 140 million people across the region.
SADC-AIP is part of the broader Continental Africa Water Investment Programme, which aims to mobilize an additional $30 billion annually by 2030 to close Africa's water investment gap, estimated at $45-54 billion per year.
Alex Simalabwi, Executive Secretary of Global Water Partnership Southern Africa and CEO of the Africa Water Investment Programme, stated, "The SADC Regional Climate Resilient Water Investment Programme aims to transform and improve the investment outlook for water security and sustainable sanitation for a prosperous, peaceful and equitable SADC region."
The program will focus on improving climate information, early warning systems, and water infrastructure resilience.
It will also seek to access innovative blended finance and private sector sources, such as pension funds, insurance funds, and sovereign wealth funds.
Dr. Kabeya added, "By addressing the destruction of monitoring networks and improving the collection and management of hydro-climate data, the programme will equip vulnerable communities to better adapt to climate impacts, enhance agricultural resilience, and reduce health risks associated with extreme weather events."
The initiative is set to be a key topic at the upcoming Summit of SADC Heads of States on August 17 in Harare, Zimbabwe.