Cape Town, South Africa, 13-15 August
1. Summary
The African Union-AIP Water Investment Summit 2025 will take place in Cape Town, South Africa from 13 to 15 August 2025. The Summit is convened by the Republic of South Africa, the African Union Commission, the AU-Continental Africa Water Investment Programme (AIP), the AU-AIP International High-Level Panel on Water Investments for Africa, and the African Union Development Agency – NEPAD, within the context of South Africa’s G20 Presidency.
The Summit will support the achievement of South Africa’s G20 priorities of rapid and inclusive economic growth, eradication of poverty and hunger, and climate sustainability, by accelerating investments into climate-resilient water and sanitation.
2. Background
On 3 December 2024, the President of the Republic of South Africa, H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the country has adopted the theme “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability” for its G20 Presidency in 2025, and would use the opportunity to bring the development priorities of the African Continent and the Global South more firmly onto the agenda of the G20.
This will be the first time in the history of the G20, that its Summit will be hosted on the African continent – particularly following the admission of the African Union as a member of the G20. On 21 January, at Davos 2025, President Ramaphosa reiterated that South Africa will utilise its G20 Presidency and the forum’s Summit to address “huge gaps in economic capabilities and levels of human development that countries in the Global South face, including a lack of predictable financing for development, as well as climate change.”
Priorities for South Africa’s G20 Presidency include strengthening the resilience of countries to climate-induced disasters, mobilising finance for a just energy transition, and ensuring debt sustainability for low-income countries, as unsustainable levels of debt limit the ability of developing countries to invest in infrastructure and other development needs. President Ramaphosa indicated that the country would seek to secure agreement on increasing the quality and quantity of climate finance flows to developing countries.
Investments in Africa’s water sector are well below the requirements of the continent. An additional US$ 30 billion per year must be invested by 2030 to meet the continent’s growing social and economic needs. Investment in water and sanitation is linked to achieving most of the Sustainable Development Goals, growing a prosperous, equal society, and securing a climate-resilient future. Climate-resilient water security is synonymous with the theme of Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability, as it forms the foundation of joint prosperity, inclusive growth, and sustainability.
The Continental Africa Water Investment Programme (AIP) was adopted by African Union (AU) Heads of State in 2021 as part of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), as an initiative to transform the investment outlook for water and sanitation in Africa.
The AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy (2022-2032) recognises the AIP as a flagship programme for transforming water systems.
The AU-AIP International High-Level Panel on Water Investments for Africa, co-chaired by the Governments of Senegal and Namibia, with alternate Co-Chair H.E. Jakaya Kikwete, the former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, supported the AU in publishing Africa’s Rising Investment Tide and Africa Water Investment Action Plan in 2023. The twin pivotal documents provide guidelines for AU Member States, their development partners, and the private sector on how to mobilise the required additional US$30 billion per year towards climate-resilient water and sustainable sanitation in Africa by 2030.
In September 2023, during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, African leaders together with the African Union Commission and the High-Level Panel, formally launched the Mind the Gap – Invest in Water campaign. The objective of the campaign is to raise awareness, influence change, and ultimately – prompt the strategic transformation that can result in the mobilisation of increased investments towards climate-resilient water security and sustainable sanitation in Africa. Commitments and resources mobilised will contribute to closing the water investment gap, implementation of the AIP High-Level Panel Investment Action Plan, and the UN 2023 Water Action Agenda in Africa.
The campaign aims to address key systemic challenges – or gaps – that constrain the availability of water for social needs and economic progress, as well as undermine development on the continent. The key challenges identified are as follows:
a) Governance gap – In 53% of African countries, sub-optimal governance arrangements sustain the low implementation of coordinated approaches to water management, development, and sanitation services.
b) Finance gap – at least an additional US$30 billion per year should be invested in water and sanitation in Africa by 2030.
c) Capacity and data gap – 71% of African countries have inadequate capacity and information flow for the effective implementation of integrated water resources management.
The Mind the Gap – Invest in Water drive will mobilise action for the achievement of the nine finance targets proposed by the High-Level Panel in the pyramid of water investment transformation (shown in Figure 1 below), raise ambition for water investments, and secure commitments for new funding.
