Water should be at center of climate, finance discussions: South Africa’s president

ANKARA / JOHANNESBURG

Water should be at the center of climate and finance discussions, South Africa’s president said on Wednesday at the opening of the African Union Water Investment Summit in Cape Town.

The summit has four goals, said Cyril Ramaphosa, including “to endorse a summit declaration that commits us to scale up investments to improve governance and to increase accountability in the water sector.”

It also aims to “showcase a pipeline of 80 priority investment projects from 38 countries” and to “facilitate matchmaking between governments, financiers, and various partners.”

“And fourthly, we are also gathered here to position water at the highest level of the global political and financial agenda, from G20 and COP30 (annual UN climate change conference) to the UN 2026 water conference, and beyond,” he added.

“We can clearly say that water must no longer be an afterthought at climate and finance discussions. It must be at the center of discussions. It must be financed; it must be tracked in terms of whether progress is being made or not,” the president stressed, noting that water could be a “driver of economic transformation, innovation, and peace.”

He called for building a world “where water is recognized as a human right and not weaponized against women, children, and communities.”

The three-day summit brings together leaders and officials from African countries, as well as policymakers from across the world.

- $200B annual loss due to climate impact

Also speaking at the event, Nardos Bekele-Thomas, executive secretary of the African Union Development Agency (NEPAD), said Africa needs to safeguard its critical water resources from climate threats, and insufficient water investments whose impact costs the continent $200 billon each year.

“Your excellencies, Africa is tired of decisions, strategies, and plans. Africa wants action, Africa wants implementation,” she said.

Bekele-Thomas said Lake Chad in the Sahel region has already lost 90% of its source base and that more should be done to lessen the impact of a changing climate.

Botswana’s President Duma Gideon Boko said his country is among four Southern African countries that could become highly water stressed by 2040 if nothing is done.

Boko emphasized the importance of maintaining international water relations among countries that share rivers and lakes as this is an important element in ensuring water security as well as building cooperation.

He said his country continues to engage with Zambia and Namibia as they share rivers through several water commissions and transboundary water cooperation.

King Mswati III of Eswatini said Africa needs to encourage investments in water preservation projects for future generations as the continent is warming up much faster and seeing a reduction in rainfall.