The President of Republic of Zambia, His Excellency Mr. Hakainde Hichilema,
The Minister of Water Development and Sanitation – Honourable Collins Nzovu
All Protocols observed
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to Zambia for hosting this important conference. Your hospitality and leadership in convening us around such a critical issue is deeply appreciated.

Three years ago, at the EU-AU Summit, our leaders committed to building a renewed partnership — one grounded in mutual trust, shared values, and a common vision of solidarity, peace, prosperity, and sustainable development.

Water is at the heart of this vision. Water connects us all. Water knows no borders.

We are here because we believe that working together on shared water resources can foster peace, resilience, and regional integration.

Transboundary water management is more than a technical challenge - it is a strategic priority for sustainable development, climate action, and peacebuilding.

It is in this spirit that I am proud to launch today the Blue Africa action, a flagship of the Team Europe Initiative on Transboundary Water Management in Africa.

This initiative is the cornerstone of our collective effort to strengthen Africa’s water governance at the continental level, in close partnership with the African Union and African Ministers Conference on Water (AMCOW).

The Blue Africa action showcases that only through cooperation – at national, regional and continental level - we can ensure sustainable and fair water governance systems.

This action demonstrates that practical, cooperative solutions are not only possible — they are already delivering results.

Dear guests,
Today, we also mark a second milestone: the release of the first progress report on the Team Europe Initiative. In just a few years, over EUR 672 million (equivalent to more than 20 Billion Zambian Kwachas) has been mobilised to support transboundary water cooperation in Africa, through improved governance, capacity building, data sharing, and climate-resilient investments.

From Lake Chad to the Senegal River Basin, from Southern Africa to the Nile, our efforts now cover 60% of Africa’s territory and will
impact over 900 million people.

This goes beyond development cooperation - it is regional integration in action. It brings together the EU, Member States, African institutions, and basin organisations under a shared vision.

And today, I am especially pleased to welcome Finland as the 9th European Member State joining the Team Europe Initiative along with Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Slovenia and Sweden.

Beyond funding, Finland brings on board world-class expertise in water diplomacy, integrated water resources management, and environmental governance.

This is why the European Union firmly supports the Water Convention. We applaud the remarkable progress made—since 2018, twelve African countries have joined the Convention, including Zambia just last year.

We are also seeing this momentum reflected in broader cooperation efforts: today, 21 African countries report that 90% or more of their transboundary river and lake basins are covered by operational arrangements under SDG indicator 6.5.2. That’s an
increase of three countries since 2020.

We must go further and scale up investment, strengthen coordination across sectors and meaningfully include women and youth in decision-making. We must improve data management, foster knowledge exchange, and invest in innovation and nature-
based solutions.

Dear friends,
In Zambia, the sustainable management of water resources remains insufficiently addressed and access to water and sanitation in Zambia in 2024 remains particularly challenging, especially in rural areas.

To address these challenges, we joined hands with the Government of Zambia in the design and implementation of the Nexus Energy and
Water Programme for Zambia (NEWZA).

NEWZA is a key initiative under the EU’s Global Gateway strategy, designed to improve the energy-water nexus across multiple provinces in Zambia by supporting the National Water Utilities.

Funded with 3.5 Billion Zambian Kwacha by the EU, Germany and UNICEF, and implemented by the Water Utilities in cooperation with
the Ministry of Water Development and Sanitation, NWASCO and local ministries and authorities.
Still at national level, the EU supports the revision of the National Water Policy, the Water Resources Management Act and the National
Rainwater Harvesting Strategy, among other policy instruments. At local level, we support restoration and protection of water catchment
and their ecosystems.

In the region, we just started the design of a Transboundary Water Management Programme for the Zambezi River Basin with EUR 20
million.

This proves that improving transboundary water management and enhancing access to water and sanitation - are two sides of the same coin — one leads to the other, and we must work on both in parallel.

Thank you.