Ramaphosa urges African govts, financiers to up investment in water to prevent deepening crisis
Ramaphosa said water has taken the backseat, with most countries choosing to invest in other sectors like finance and climate change.
President Cyril Ramaphosa at the African Union-AIP Water Investment Summit in Cape Town on 13 August 2025. Picture: @GovernmentZA/X
CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on African governments and financiers to ramp up investment in water to prevent a deepening water crisis.
Ramaphosa said water had taken the backseat, with most countries choosing to invest in other sectors like finance and climate change.
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Ramaphosa made the call at the opening of the African Union-AIP Water Investment Summit in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Ramaphosa said water must be at the centre of discussions and must no longer be an afterthought at climate and finance engagements.
He said one of the main aims of the summit was to position water at the "highest levels of the global political and financial agenda" from the G20 and COP30, to the UN 2026 Water Conference and beyond.
"We are bringing Africa and international partners together and calling on investors to heed the call to invest in water. Quite often, when investments take place, water is always relegated to the back."
Ramaphosa urged delegates to leave this summit with "deals, pipelines and partnerships" to sustain the momentum, with 80 priority water investment projects in 38 countries in the pipeline.