By Jean-Paul Adam
Across the continent, water and sanitation challenges are intensifying under the weight of climate change, rapid urbanisation, and persistent financing and infrastructure gaps.
The Africa Dialogue Series (ADS) 2026, convened jointly by the UN Office of the Special Advisor on Africa (UN OSAA) and the African Union Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, argues for a fundamental mind shift in how Africa approaches water governance.
The dialogues, held throughout the month of May and culminating in a High-Level Political Dialogue on 29 May, have focused on the AU theme of the year – ‘Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063’.
Water is the source of life and can, if harnessed effectively, become one of Africa’s most transformative economic assets.
Fundamentally, the Africa Dialogue Series this year shifts the debate from just focusing on water scarcity, to addressing how water resources are governed and managed.
By framing water and sanitation as “strategic assets”, the ADS policy briefs outline a pathway to unlock transformative gains in growth, resilience, and peace.
The ADS elevates water as a foundational economic and development asset—a “super-connector” linking health, food systems, energy, industry, and stability.
Yet Africa remains off track on Sustainable Development Goal 6 (ensuring availability of water and sanitation for all), with only about 40 per cent of people having access to safely managed drinking water and roughly 30 per cent accessing sanitation.
While progress is being made, it is not happening fast enough. Without a new approach, incremental improvements will not be enough.
New approach
The proposed Strategic Asset Management (SAM) approach offers that new framework. It emphasises lifecycle planning, governance, maintenance, and optimisation of water systems—rather than focusing solely on expanding infrastructure.
This is a critical correction. Investments alone cannot deliver sustainable services if infrastructure is poorly managed or allowed to deteriorate.
The ADS underscores that managing water resources and infrastructure as long-term assets—balancing investment with maintenance and institutional capacity—is key to ensuring durability, resilience, and long-term returns.
But SAM also reshapes how we value water beyond the sector itself. The dialogues have underlined how water and sanitation are drivers of economic transformation and urbanisation. Water security underpins up to 75 per cent of employment in sectors such as agriculture, energy, manufacturing, and construction.
Yet weak systems impose major economic costs: poor sanitation alone can drain between 1 and 5 per cent of GDP annually, while improved investments yield significant returns.
With Africa’s urban population projected to double by 2050, integrating strategic asset management into urban planning is central to building productive and livable cities.
At the same time, the persistent gap in access to services between rural and urban areas must be addressed if Africa is to meet its development ambitions.
Crucially, the SAM lens also reveals water as a pillar of stability and peace. Discussions within the ADS policy streams place water squarely in the nexus of energy, food security, and conflict prevention.
Water insecurity can exacerbate competition over resources, undermine livelihoods, and deepen fragility. Conversely, well-managed water systems can strengthen cooperation, support energy generation, and stabilise food production.
By aligning water governance with broader security and development strategies, SAM becomes not just a tool for efficiency, but one for prevention too —reducing the risk of crises before they emerge.
The implications
The implications for policymakers are clear.
First, governments must embed SAM principles into national water strategies—prioritising asset registers, maintenance financing, and institutional accountability alongside new investments. This requires a shift from project-based thinking to system-based stewardship.
Second, development partners and financiers should align funding models with lifecycle outcomes, incentivising performance, resilience, and sustainability rather than short-term outputs.
Third, Africa’s rapidly expanding cities must integrate water asset management into urban planning to ensure that the infrastructure keeps pace with the demographic growth realities.
Finally, regional cooperation will be indispensable. Many of Africa’s water resources are transboundary, and managing them as shared strategic assets can unlock mutual gains while reducing tensions.
Looking ahead to the 2026 UN Water Conference in December, what makes the Africa Dialogue Series particularly powerful is its insistence on integration. Strategic Asset Management is not merely a technical fix—it is a governance philosophy. It requires cross-sector coordination, long-term planning, data-driven decision-making, and inclusive participation.
The inclusion of youth and women—who are disproportionately affected by water insecurity yet remain central to community-level solutions—is therefore a critical ingredient for success.
Alongside the policy dialogues, the ADS has brought young people’s voices to the forefront of the conversation, underlining how inclusion can drive both resilience and economic transformation. This is particularly important in the context of Africa’s demographic dividend.
The Africa Dialogue Series delivers a clear message: the continent does not lack water potential—what it needs are African-designed and African-owned systems to fully harness that potential. By adopting a Strategic Asset Management approach, Africa can position water as the catalyst for inclusive growth, climate resilience, and lasting peace.
Jean-Paul Adam is the Director for Policy Monitoring and Advocacy at the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa.