AfDB to invest in urban sanitation in four African countries

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced its intention to commence investment in city wide inclusive sanitation in Kenya, Ghana, Zambia and Sierra Leone during 2024. The initial grant under this programme is expected to have a value of around U.S. $ 6 million, and it falls within the updated Africa Urban Sanitation Investment Initiative (AUSII) of the bank’s African Water Facility.

In the vision of the AfDB, the high density and different levels of development in urban areas in Africa require sanitation approaches with tailored service and infrastructure solutions that respond to a range of different communities, settlement patterns and local conditions. In the framework of citywide inclusive sanitation (CWIS), a package of solutions is provided in a hybrid mix which embraces different investment and service approaches from conventional public sector investments through to private investments.  The mission of the AUSII programme is to increase the impact of investments in urban sanitation services and service providers by strengthening the enabling environment , supporting CWIS approaches and providing blended finance.

The AfDB’s Africa Urban Sanitation Investment Fund Programme has been in operation since 2018 in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with a total investment envelope of U.S. $ 500 million. Within the programme, at least 30% of the resources are earmarked for non-sewered (on-site) sanitation solutions. The programme seeks to catalyse faster adoption of innovative, pro-poor sanitation technologies in the world’s developing regions. In addition, it aims to have an impact on the service economy by enabling local firms with innovative solutions in the sector to obtain financing to scale up their operations.