As the world prepares for the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, beginning with the High-Level Preparatory Meeting in Dakar, the Africa Water Justice Network (AWJN) speaks on behalf of communities across Africa whose lives, health, and futures depend on water.
Africa does not face a “water financing gap”. Africa faces a water justice crisis driven by privatization, extractivism, pollution, debt, and corporate capture of water governance.
Across the continent, the lived experiences of our people show that market-driven solutions have failed and continue to fail.
1. Water as a Human Right, Not a Commodity
Despite international recognition of water as a human right, 411 million Africans were denied basic safe drinking services as of 2020 because water is increasingly being treated as a commodity. In South Africa, prepaid water meters in townships such as Umlalazi and Phiri have disconnected poor households unable to pay, forcing communities to ration water or rely on unsafe sources while in Kenya, commercialized urban water utilities have prioritized revenue collection over universal service, leaving informal settlements without reliable access. These experiences show that cost-recovery models and commercialization are undermining the human right to water.
2. The Failure of Privatization and Public-Private Partnerships
Privatization and PPPs, heavily promoted by international financial institutions, in Africa led by the Africa Development Bank and the Africa Water Facility, have repeatedly delivered higher tariffs, reduced accountability, and social exclusion. In Senegal, decades of private sector participation in urban water management has not delivered equitable access, while decision-making has remained distant from communities. In Ghana, the World Bank supported commercialization reforms have increased tariffs while failing to address pollution and unequal access, particularly for low-income households. Africa’s water systems must be publicly owned, publicly financed, and democratically governed.
3. Water Financing Must Not Deepen Debt
African countries are being pushed toward loans and “blended finance” for water infrastructure even as debt levels reach crisis proportions. In Zambia and Mozambique, debt servicing has crowded out public spending on water, sanitation, and health. In Nigeria, utilities struggle under loan-financed projects while communities face rising tariffs and deteriorating services. Access to water should not come at the cost of austerity, debt dependency, and social suffering.
4. Protect Water from Extractivism and False Climate Solutions
Africa’s water sources are being destroyed in the name of mining, agribusiness, and so-called “green” development.
- In Ghana, illegal and industrial gold mining (“galamsey”) has polluted major rivers such as the Pra, Ankobra, and Offin, threatening drinking water for millions.
- In Niger, uranium mining has depleted and contaminated groundwater, while local communities lack safe water.
- In Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo, mining operations have displaced communities and poisoned rivers.
- In Nigeria, decades of fossil extraction, gas flaring, and repeated spills, especially in the Niger Delta, have contaminated rivers and groundwater, while carbon offset and gas-to-power initiatives are promoted as “climate solutions” without addressing the damage to water systems.
- Across Namibia, Mauritania, and South Africa, proposed green hydrogen projects threaten to divert scarce water from communities to export-oriented industries.
There can be no climate justice without water justice. Polluters must be made to pay and destructive projects must stop.
5. Center Communities, Women, and Water Defenders
African water governance continues to exclude those most affected. Women and girls across mostly Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Liberia still walk long distances for water, carrying the burden of failed systems. Water defenders in Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya, and Senegal face intimidation and repression for opposing destructive projects and privatization. Communities must have decision-making power, not token consultation while water defenders must be protected and not criminalized.
Our Call to the 2026 UN Water Conference
Ahead of the Dakar meeting and the 2026 UN Water Conference, AWJN demands that African governments, the United Nations, and international partners:
- Reaffirm water and sanitation as non-negotiable human rights
- End water privatization and corporate control
- Provide public, grant-based water financing — not debt
- Protect rivers, aquifers, and watersheds from extractivism and false solutions
- Guarantee meaningful participation and protection of communities, women, and water defenders
Africa’s water future cannot be decided in boardrooms, investment forums, or closed-door negotiations.
Nothing about our water without us!
Africa’s water is not for sale!
Issued by the Africa Water Justice Network (AWJN)
23rd January 2026
Contact: info@awjn.org