Official Launch
Launching message from the AUC Deputy Chairperson
H.E. Selma Malika Haddadi, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission
Excellencies,
Distinguished colleagues, partners, ladies and gentlemen,
I am honoured to join my dear sister, H.E. Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, in launching the 2026 edition of the Africa Dialogue Series.
This year’s African Union Theme, Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063, signals a clear shift.
Water and sanitation must no longer be treated as stand-alone services. They must be recognised as strategic assets that underpin economic transformation, climate resilience, and regional stability.
Water is life. Sanitation is dignity. And both are foundational to Africa’s development, peace, and resilience. This is not a slogan. It is a continental political commitment.
Because without water security, there will be no food security, no energy transition, no industrialisation, no health, and no lasting peace.
Despite progress, Africa remains off track. Coverage of safely managed drinking water stands at approximately 36%, and sanitation even lower. These are not only service gaps. They are structural constraints on productivity, resilience, and inclusive growth.
Africa faces an annual water investment gap of between 43 and 56 billion US dollars.
What this demands is a shift. From fragmented service delivery to integrated systems planning. From isolated projects to coordinated investment pipelines. And from dialogue to implementation at scale.
The Africa Dialogue Series is not only a platform for exchange. It is an instrument to consolidate Africa’s voice and to position the continent ahead of key global processes, including the 2026 United Nations Water Conference.
This is a collective responsibility. It requires governments, regional institutions, the private sector, development partners, and communities to align behind a shared objective: ensuring that water becomes a foundation for growth, resilience, and stability across our continent.
But beyond systems and investments, this is also a question of who we are. Because water, in its most fundamental sense, is life. And to secure it, we must act not only as institutions, but as a collective.
Africa has never been built in isolation. It has been built on solidarity, on shared responsibility, and on the understanding that our destinies are bound together.
This is the essence of Pan-Africanism. This is the principle of Ubuntu. That I am, because we are. The task before us is therefore, not to restate these ambitions. It is to realise them. Together.
I thank you.