UAE, Senegal vow to convert Africa's water commitments into real projects

Kigali: The UAE and Senegal will bring together governments, development finance institutions, investors, businesses and innovators at the 2026 UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi to help turn Africa's water commitments into investable projects, a senior UAE official has said.

Speaking at the Africa Water and Sanitation Systems Leadership Symposium in Kigali, Abdulla Ahmed Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability, said the focus now had to shift from making pledges to delivering measurable results.

"The challenge before us is no longer one of ambition. The challenge is implementation," Balalaa said.

From pledges to projects

He said the UAE and Senegal, co-hosts of the UN Water Conference scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi in December, would work to connect priorities identified by African countries with development finance institutions, philanthropies, investors, businesses and innovators when the conference is held in Abu Dhabi in December.

The aim, he said, is to strengthen project pipelines, build institutional capacity and introduce reforms needed to attract financing at scale.

"Water is not only a development imperative. It is an economic imperative. And it is a huge opportunity," he said.

He pointed out that stronger water systems support jobs, productivity, food security and long-term prosperity. "Unlocking investment in water means unlocking investment in Africa's future."

Growing crisis

Balalaa said climate change, population growth, urbanisation and rising demand were putting increasing pressure on water systems, while freshwater resources were becoming more constrained and less predictable.

He cited global figures showing 2.1 billion people currently lack access to safely managed water, while 3.4 billion lack safely managed sanitation, and said addressing the gap would require stronger partnerships, financing, technology and political leadership.

UAE's track record

Balalaa pointed to several UAE-backed initiatives, including the Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative, launched two years ago with a $119 million prize purse to drive innovation in desalination and water efficiency worldwide.

He also cited the recently launched Abu Dhabi Global Water Platform, a $2 billion initiative aimed at accelerating water projects and expanding clean water access to 10 million people globally by 2030, and a 2024 financing agreement between the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and the Government of Rwanda to strengthen water transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Road to Abu Dhabi

He said preparations for the UN conference had included meetings in Addis Ababa, Cape Town and Dakar, with the January high-level preparatory meeting in Senegal drawing nearly 3,000 participants from more than 120 countries.

A roadmap is now being developed around implementation, including investment in infrastructure, financing, capacity-building and innovation, which will feed into the Abu Dhabi conference in December.

Measured by delivery

Balalaa said the conference should ultimately be judged by what happens after delegates leave Abu Dhabi, rather than by the commitments made during the event.

"We are committed to delivering a conference that goes beyond dialogue, one that unlocks investment, strengthens partnerships, scales innovation and accelerates implementation. The success will not be measured by what we say in Abu Dhabi or anywhere else, but by what we help deliver afterwards,” he said.

The discussions in Kigali are expected to feed into preparations for the UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi later this year.