Water Resilient Cities and Communities in Africa- Insights on Implementation and Scaling from Six African Cities

Over 700 million people live in Africa’s cities, and nearly two-thirds lack access to safe water services (especially those housed in informal settlements). Rapid urbanization is intensifying pressure on already limited water resources, while water-related disasters are becoming more frequent and severe. As a result, Africa’s cities face a triple water challenge: ‘too much’, ‘too little’ and ‘too polluted’. Building urban water resilience is a critical priority, yet traditional sector-based approaches have proved insufficient for today’s complex urban environments. This session will launch a landmark report, “Applying Urban Water Resilience Pathways in Six African Cities: Insights on Implementation and Scaling”. This report documents key findings and insights from a multi-partner approach that has been successful in six cities: Johannesburg, Kigali, Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, Gqeberha and Musanze (in Rwanda, South Africa and Ethiopia). Innovative solutions from other African cities such as Nairobi on linking water resilience solutions with transformation of informal settlements will also be showcased. With key partners and city stakeholders, WRI piloted a multi-year initiative that brought together water actors from the public, private, and civil society (including grassroots groups) to decide on shared priorities and develop actionable solutions. Despite differences in scale and context, these experiences reveal the essential processes needed for cities in the global south to build alignment among stakeholders, define realistic resilience priorities, and shape projects that can attract funding and be successfully implemented. Given the significant needs identified and the potential of blended finance mechanisms that can support localized solutions, the opportunity to scale this approach across other urban contexts is substantial. The lessons showcased will offer a scalable pathway for Africa’s cities in their race to achieve adequate housing, basic services and upgrading of informal settlements. During the session, these key findings will be presented for discussion and debate among participants, deepening the discussion of global water resilience across partners and exploring how insights from African cities can spark a global movement toward resilient urban water systems.