The African Water Association (AfWA) is strengthening its position as a leading pan-African organization in capacity building for water and sanitation utilities. Indeed, the Global Alliance for Water Operators' Partnerships (GWOPA), a network of partners committed to the mutual assistance of water operators to improve their capacity to provide access to safe drinking water and sanitation services for all, has just chosen AfWA as the regional partnership platform for water operators in Africa (WOP) for the implementation of two (2) WOP projects. Projects financed by OFID (The OPEC Fund for International Development) to the tune of $250,000 over a total period of two (2) years, from june 2019 to may 2021, in Malawi and Ethiopia.

The project aims to implement short-term partnerships between water operators to help less performing operators achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and progress towards sustainable access to safe drinking water for all.

The beneficiaries of this project are Blantyre Water Board (BWB) in Blantyre, Malawi, and Wolaita Sodo Town Water supply and Sewerage services enterprise in Sodo, Ethiopia. They were chosen according to development criteria. They will develop a Medium-Term Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) and implement short-term thematic action plans that will help them implement measurable improvements in their performance and ability to serve the poorest in terms of drinking water supply. For the implementation of the project, AfWA chosed eThekwini Water and Sanitation (EWS) of Durban as its mentor.

It should be reminded that in order to better share knowledge on successful experiences in water service management, since 2008, AfWA has launched the Water Operators in Africa Partnership Programme (WOP-Africa), which allows exchanges on current best practices in the water sector between the most experienced operators (mentors) and the least efficient (mentees). Thus, over the period 2009-2014, several partnerships have been developed on different themes and in particular on Non-revenue Water (NRW). The satisfactory results of the evaluation of these partnerships’ implementation have enabled AfWA the confidence of this new donor.