DIALOGUE BRIEF | WRITTEN BY EUPHRESIA LUSEKA
Executive Overview
As Africa advances the Africa Water Vision 2063, the central challenge is no longer confined to expanding physical infrastructure. It is fundamentally a question of executive leadership who shapes policy, governs utilities, mobilises capital, and negotiates transboundary agreements. In celebration of Africa Women’s Day 2026, this Strategic Leadership Dialogue, convened with, African Women In Trade, Pan-African Women’s Organization (PAWO), Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN), African Water and Sanitation Association (AFWASA) and other partners, brought together Strategic Dialogue Lead and Moderator Euphresia Luseka, Dr. Pedi Obani (Associate Professor of Law, University of Bradford), and Bethlehem Mengistu (Executive Director, Agenda for Change). Together with foundational framing from Ndeye Kebe (President, WIIS Senegal), the dialogue advanced transitioning African women from water collectors into becoming the architects, policy-makers, financiers and diplomats shaping Africa’s water economy.
The Opening Perspective
Euphresia (Moderator):
Welcome to our Leadership Dialogue: African Women Shaping Africa’s Water Future: Leadership, Governance, Financing, and Partnerships for the Africa Water Vision 2063.
Earlier this year, African Heads of State adopted the Africa Water Vision 2063, recognising that gender equity is a prerequisite for water security. Yet according to UN Water, Sub-Saharan Africa faces an estimated $30 billion annual water investment gap, while women and girls spend 250 million hours every day collecting water.
Today’s conversation asks: How do we move from recognising African women as water collectors to architects, regulators, financiers, and diplomats of Africa’s water economy?”
Foundational Context
Euphresia (Moderator):
I want to anchor us in the powerful framing shared by Ndeye Kebe, President of WIIS Senegal.
She reminded us of Ole, 12-year-old girl who dreamt to be a doctor but never returned home after setting out to fetch water. Ole did not die because of war or disease but water access. Behind every statistic on water insecurity is a life constrained.
Imagine what Africa could achieve if those 250 million hours were redirected toward education, entrepreneurship, research, innovation and infrastructure? Water scarcity threatens livelihoods, intensifies resources competition, conflict vulnerability in communities, displacement, and gender-based violence.
However, transboundary cooperation demonstrates that shared water resources can become platforms for collaboration rather than confrontation. Therefore, there will be no Agenda 2063 without water security, and there will be no water security without women.
She challenged us to position African women as negotiators, investors, and decision-makers. When women participate in mediation and natural resource governance, peace agreements become more durable and communities more resilient. The ambition she set before us is: ensuring that by 2030, women hold at least 30% of decision-making roles in water governance and transboundary negotiations.
From Representation to Institutional Power
Euphresia (Moderator):
To the first challenge, Governance. Bethlehem, let me start with you. Across Africa, many policies already recognise gender inclusion. However, women remain significantly underrepresented in executive positions.
What is the single most important leadership decision African governments and institutions must make today to move women to decision-makers shaping Africa’s water future?
Bethlehem:
Across our continent, women already manage water daily in households, agriculture, healthcare systems, and communities. They understand the realities of water insecurity most. Yet they remain underrepresented in the rooms where policies are designed, budgets are allocated, and investments are prioritised.
We cannot build Africa’s water future while excluding the people who understand the challenge most deeply. But this is not simply about inviting more women into existing structures. Leadership is not about participation alone but sharing power.
Women should be intentionally placed in positions where they can influence policy decisions, investment priorities, and institutional reform. Representation alone is not enough. We need women to have authority, resources, and accountability. The strongest reforms I have seen happen when leadership is collaborative and locally driven; when different perspectives shape decisions, institutions become stronger, more responsive, and more resilient.
Africa Water Vision 2063 will not be achieved through infrastructure alone. It will be achieved through leadership that reflects the diversity, talent, and ambition of Africa’s people. The question is no longer whether women are ready to lead; it is whether our institutions are ready to trust women with leadership.
Euphresia (Moderator):
Thank you, Bethlehem. That distinction is key. This is not simply about increasing the number of women in leadership positions.
Representation without merit and power does not transform institutions.
Dr. Pedi, let me bring you into the conversation. You have written extensively on law, climate justice, and governance. What needs to change in how we frame women’s participation in water governance?
Dr. Pedi:
I think one of the most important shifts we need is rethinking vulnerability. Most conversations around water begin with the image of women walking long distances, carrying water, and providing care. Those realities are important, but when they become the dominant narrative, they limit how we see women’s potential. African women are often framed through what we lack rather than what we bring.
We need to move from a vulnerability-based approach to an agency-based approach. Women are not inherently vulnerable. Vulnerability is created by the systems within which people operate, systems that restrict access to resources, decision-making spaces, finance, and legal protections.
“If you think about a fish taken out of water, that fish becomes vulnerable because the environment does not support it. The issue is not the fish itself; it is the system around it.”
The same applies to women. Leaders must recognise that African women are not one single category. Women differ by age, education, income level, geography, and experience. So, policy responses cannot simply be ’empower vulnerable women.’ The question must be: how do we remove the structural barriers preventing women from exercising their agency? Moving forward, water governance must recognise women not only as beneficiaries of services, but as experts, professionals, entrepreneurs, regulators, and leaders.
Euphresia (Moderator):
Thank you, Dr. Pedi. Both of you have brought us to a central point: the challenge is not a lack of women’s capacity but whether institutions are designed to recognise and unlock that capacity.
Moving women from carrying water to governing water requires a shift in mindset, but also a shift in systems.
Rebuilding the Macro-Financing Architecture
Euphresia (Moderator):
Let’s move to the second challenge, finance and investment. We know Africa faces a significant water infrastructure financing gap, estimated at $30 billion annually.
Yet women are often directed towards small-scale microfinance solutions, while the broader financing architecture: public finance, sovereign financing, climate bonds, and infrastructure investments remains largely disconnected from women-led solutions.
So the question is not simply: Where is the money? It’s, What kind of financial systems are we building, and who gets to shape them?
Dr. Pedi, let me start with you. What structural or legal barriers prevent capital from flowing directly into women-led water enterprises and creditworthy utilities? And how do we dismantle those barriers?”
Dr. Pedi:
This question connects directly to our earlier discussion on leadership and agency. The fundamental issue is that many financing systems were not designed around the realities of African women. We often ask why women are not accessing finance, but we rarely ask whether the systems are accessible.
For example, many financial institutions introduce products labelled as ‘Women-focused,’ but often they are simply existing products with a new label. We must ask: what barriers prevent women from accessing finance? Is it collateral requirements? Is it documentation? Is it ownership structures?
In many African contexts, women do not own land or property because of cultural or legal barriers. Yet financial institutions require those same assets as collateral. If women don’t legally control assets, they can’t use it to unlock capital. The solution is not creating more loans or grants but redesigning financial systems to respond to the realities of women’s lives.
Euphresia (Moderator):
This also applies to gender-responsive public budgeting and procurement. If governments are serious about transforming water systems, they need to examine who receives contracts, who participates in supply chains, and who benefits from public investment.
There are also legal barriers embedded in service delivery itself in most water utilities getting a domestic water connection requires a title deed which most woman don’t possess. Such structural barriers are created by laws and institutions. This is why Water cannot be separated from politics, legislators remove barriers preventing equitable access.
Thank you, Dr. Pedi. Indeed sometimes the barrier is not the absence of finance, but the design of the system through which finance flows.
It brings us to a broader question about investment thinking. Bethlehem, from your experience working on national water systems and institutional reform, what needs to change in how investors view women-led solutions?
Bethlehem:
The first shift is changing the investment narrative. Women’s leadership should not be viewed only as a social inclusion objective but as a strategic investment in Africa’s development. Too often, women-led organisations and local institutions are perceived as higher-risk investments. Yet the greater risk is failing to invest in women already leading change across communities and countries.
Evidence shows that when women shape governance decisions and investment priorities, institutions perform better, services become more resilient, and benefits extend beyond the water sector into broader economic and social outcomes. The first step, therefore, is recognising women-led solutions as investment-ready and removing assumptions that they are inherently higher risk.
The second shift is changing the question we ask. Instead of asking, How do we fund women-led projects? We should ask: How do we enable women to shape the institutions and financial systems that determine Africa’s water future?
Women need more than a seat at the funding table. They need a voice in designing the financial architecture itself. If they remain only recipients of capital decisions made elsewhere, the system has not changed. Achieving Africa Water Vision 2063, requires moving beyond financing individual projects to investing in leadership, institutions, and governance systems that deliver lasting transformation. The goal is not to pilot women-led solutions as exceptions but to make them the norm. Ultimately, we must stop asking how we fund women and start asking how we enable women to shape where investment goes. That is how we build resilient water systems.
Euphresia (Moderator):
Thank you both. I think the message coming through strongly is that financing is not only a question of capital availability. It is a question of power, design, and decision-making.
If women are absent from designing financial systems, procurement structures, and investment priorities, then even well-intentioned financing mechanisms may continue reproducing the same inequalities.
The opportunity before us is to move from financing women as beneficiaries to recognising women as architects of Africa’s water economy.
Overcoming Tokenism & Reallocating Power
Euphresia (Moderator):
The next challenge we want to explore is power.
Women carry much of the responsibility for managing water across Africa, spending millions of hours securing water access for households and communities. Yet they remain underrepresented in the institutions where policies are designed, budgets are allocated, tariffs are set, and investment decisions are made. Responsibility does not always translate into influence over the decisions that shape water systems.
Bethlehem, how do we move beyond token participation, where women are invited simply to demonstrate inclusion, toward genuine institutional power in water governance?
Bethlehem:
Thank you. This is a critical question because it brings us to the heart of whether women truly have power to shape Africa’s water future. Having worked across water programmes on the continent, one thing that continues to stand out is that women are far more likely to be found standing at a water point than sitting in the boardroom of a utility, ministry, or financing institution.
Why are those closest to the challenge often the furthest from the decisions? Women carry deep knowledge of water systems. They understand community needs, service gaps, and the realities of water insecurity. Yet this knowledge is too often separated from the spaces where policies, investments, and governance decisions are made.
“The answer is not simply increasing participation. We need to move beyond numbers and focus on redistributing power. Representation without authority is not enough. Women need the ability to influence decisions, access resources, and shape institutional priorities. Governance systems must measure not only who is present in the room, but who has the ability to change outcomes.”
The hands that carry water should also shape the policies that govern it. This requires governments, utilities, river basin organisations, and financing institutions to intentionally create pathways for women to lead and influence decisions. When leadership becomes more inclusive, institutions become stronger, investments become more effective, and services become more sustainable.
Dr. Pedi:
I completely agree, and I would add another dimension to this conversation: we also need to rethink how we understand women’s vulnerability. Several water discussions begin with the challenges women face: the distances they walk, the burden of carrying water, and their responsibilities as caregivers. Those realities are important, but they can also reinforce a limited view of African women.
The danger is that we begin to see women only as people requiring support, rather than leaders with knowledge, expertise, and the ability to drive change. Women are not inherently vulnerable. Vulnerability is often created by the systems around them.
When we design policies and institutions, we need to recognise that African women are not a single category. Women differ by age, geography, education, income, profession, and lived experience. There is no single solution that applies to all women. The leadership challenge is to move beyond assumptions of vulnerability and design systems that amplify women’s agency. This means asking different questions: not only, How do we support women affected by water challenges? but also, How do we ensure women shape the policies, institutions, and investments that determine water outcomes?
Euphresia (Moderator):
And that’s an important distinction. Inclusion cannot only mean presence. It must mean influence.
As Africa works toward Water Vision 2063, the ambition cannot be achieved by infrastructure alone. It requires governance systems where women are not only users of water services but leaders in shaping the decisions that determine Africa’s water future.
The question is no longer whether women are ready to lead. The question is whether institutions are ready to share power.
Reimagining Africa’s Water Future
Euphresia (Moderator):
As we shift to building the next generation of African water leaders, we move from diagnosing existing barriers to imagining what a fundamentally different water governance system could look like.
The question is no longer only about improving today’s institutions. It is about whether Africa’s young women leaders, climate advocates, engineers, entrepreneurs, and digital innovators will inherit the existing system or redesign it entirely.
If young African women were given the opportunity to rewrite Africa Water Vision 2063 today, what radical changes would they introduce? Would they wait until 2063, or would they demand transformation now?
Dr. Pedi:
One of the most important shifts would be visibility. Young women need to see examples of African women already transforming the water sector because, ultimately, people cannot aspire to leadership positions they cannot see. I applaud what you did with the 100 Women In Water and Sanitation Compendium, highlighting women’s achievements in water governance, entrepreneurship, engineering, and advocacy is therefore not simply recognition it is a leadership pipeline strategy.
The next generation will also challenge how we define water challenges. They understand that water cannot be separated from climate resilience, sanitation, menstrual health, education, economic opportunity, and public health. For many young African women, these connections are lived realities. They see how limited water access affects girls’ education, women’s economic participation, and community resilience to climate change.
Their leadership will likely be more systems-oriented, moving away from isolated water projects towards integrated solutions that recognise the relationship between water, climate, health, and social development. Technology will also play a central role, not for its own sake, but as an enabler of better governance, designing solutions that include communities, reflect local realities, and remain sustainable beyond initial investments.
A critical lesson is that Africa must avoid creating stranded water assets, solutions that cannot be maintained because they fail to account for local capacity, indigenous knowledge, or long-term sustainability. The next generation will bring together technology, culture, and local knowledge to create solutions designed for African realities.
Bethlehem:
Africa’s young women leaders represent one of the continent’s greatest opportunities. They are entrepreneurial, digitally connected, collaborative, and increasingly unwilling to accept traditional limitations on leadership. What is particularly encouraging is that young leaders are not waiting for permission. Across the continent, young women are already creating businesses, influencing policy discussions, and developing innovative solutions.
If young women were designing Africa Water Vision 2063 today, they would likely begin with a different question. Instead of asking: How do we deliver more water projects? they would ask: How do we build water systems that are inclusive, resilient, innovative, and future-ready?
This generation understands that water infrastructure is connected to climate adaptation, economic development, health outcomes, and technological transformation. They also have a unique ability to work across traditional boundaries. Where previous approaches often created silos between sectors, young leaders naturally see connections and opportunities across disciplines.
The responsibility of today’s leaders is not to design the future on behalf of young people. It is to remove barriers, create opportunities, and invest in their leadership. A critical commitment for current leaders is to invest directly in the next generation of African women leaders through mentorship and opportunity creation. But mentorship alone is insufficient. Leaders must go further by walking alongside young women until they are confident and empowered to lead. If every leader committed to lifting one woman into leadership, the transformation of Africa’s water sector would accelerate significantly.
Dr. Pedi:
The final priority is accountability, beginning with data. We cannot change what we do not measure, and we cannot measure what we do not know. Gender-disaggregated data is essential to understanding who experiences water challenges, who benefits from investment, and who participates in decision-making. Without evidence, inequalities can easily be dismissed. With evidence, governments and institutions can design targeted interventions.
However, data alone is not enough. The second requirement is enforcement. Africa has developed numerous policies, strategies, and frameworks, but implementation remains the greatest challenge. Communities must understand their rights, governments must understand their obligations, and institutions must have mechanisms to ensure commitments translate into action.
The third element is access to justice. People may know their rights have been violated, but without affordable legal pathways they cannot hold institutions accountable. Expanding access to legal support for environmental and water-related issues is therefore essential.
What Must Happen Next
Euphresia (Moderator):
As we close, one message stands out. Africa Water Vision 2063 will not be achieved through commitments alone. It will be realised through leadership, accountability, and action. What is the one commitment should leaders make today to accelerate women’s leadership in Africa’s water future?
Bethlehem:
My call to action is simple: Invest in the next generation of African women leaders. Mentorship matters, but leadership is built through opportunity. Every leader should commit to opening pathways for young women to lead, make decisions, and shape institutions. If each of us helps one woman move into leadership, we create a multiplier effect that extends far beyond any individual organisation.
Euphresia (Moderator):
“Yes, Mentorship remains important, but Africa’s young professionals are increasingly over-mentored and under-sponsored. I would take that one step further. Young professionals need leaders who will advocate for them, create opportunities, and back them when decisions about appointments, promotions, and leadership roles are made. Sponsorship is how we build a stronger pipeline of women leaders across the water sector.”
Dr. Pedi:
My call to action is accountability. First, we need better gender-disaggregated data to understand who benefits from investments and who is being left behind. Second, we must strengthen implementation of the policies and commitments we already have. Finally, access to justice must become a reality so that people have the means to enforce their rights to water and related services. We cannot improve what we do not measure, and we cannot deliver accountability without evidence.
Turning Commitments into Action
Africa Water Vision 2063 arrives at a defining moment for the continent’s water future. The challenge before Africa is not only closing the infrastructure gap; it is transforming the leadership, governance, and investment systems that will determine whether water security becomes a reality.
The scale of urgency is clear. Sub-Saharan Africa faces an estimated US$30 billion annual water investment gap, while women and girls spend approximately 250 million hours every day collecting water. Behind these figures are lost opportunities for education, enterprise, innovation, and economic participation.
But Africa’s greatest water asset is not only its resources; it is its people. Across the continent, women already possess the knowledge, resilience, and solutions needed to shape water systems. The task ahead is to translate that expertise into influence, authority, and investment power.
Achieving Africa Water Vision 2063 requires moving beyond commitments toward action: placing women where decisions are made, directing finance toward transformative solutions, strengthening accountable institutions, and investing in the next generation of leaders.
The future of Africa’s water economy will be defined not only by the infrastructure we build, but by the leadership we empower. The question is no longer whether women have a role in Africa’s water future. The question is whether institutions are ready to unlock it.
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