Strategic Financial Planning for Water Supply and Sanitation in Africa

The EU Water Initiative Finance Working Group published Strategic Financial Planning for Water Supply and Sanitation in Africa in May 2010. Based on a study carried out in Lesotho by PEM Consult of Denmark, the paper looks at ways to bridge the estimated gaps of USD 11.4 billion required for infrastructure improvements to meet the UN's Millennium Development Goals in Africa. Strategic financial planning has to match national water policy to local resources, capacity and available finance. The report makes recommendations as to how this can be embedded in countries' planning processes and urges decision makers to look beyond national budgets to loans, bonds, equity and the many other hybrid forms of finance now available. You can find the report online.