African Water Facility

What African Water Facility does

The African Water Facility (AWF) is a multilateral project preparation trust fund established in 2004 and administered by the African Development Bank Group, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. AWF's core function is to mobilize financial and human resources to prepare bankable, investment-ready water and sanitation projects across Africa, providing grants, technical assistance, and catalytic investments to eligible recipients including regional member countries, sub-national entities, river/lake basin organizations, regional economic communities, and NGOs. Its operations are governed by a 13-member Governing Council chaired under the mandate of the African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW), with delivery supported through AfDB's regional offices across the continent.

The facility operates a structured application and pipeline model: eligible recipients submit funding applications which are screened, ranked, and approved for grant financing. Since 2006, AWF has financed 138 projects across 52 African countries, mobilizing approximately €205 million from 20 bilateral and multilateral donors, foundations, and African governments. Each €1 of AWF contribution has attracted on average €32 in follow-on investments, generating nearly €2 billion in downstream financing. AWF's product surface includes its core project preparation work, a dedicated Project Portal publishing IATI-standard project data, and the Africa Urban Sanitation Investment Initiative (AUSII), a sub-programme launched in 2019 with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Nordic Development Fund targeting urban sanitation in seven pilot countries.

AWF's business model is that of a not-for-profit grant-making accelerator rather than a commercial enterprise; it generates no product revenue and is fully funded by donor contributions. Its go-to-market operates through direct application intake managed at headquarters in Abidjan with field support via AfDB regional offices, supplemented by investment promotion events (e.g., Brussels, March 2025) to mobilize private co-financing. AWF is currently entering its 2026-2030 Strategic Plan, which repositions it as a market-responsive catalyst for continental water sector development with three priorities: project preparation, securing finance and investment including blended approaches, and building a high-performance facility.

Name

African Water Facility

Legal name

African Water Facility

Website

https://africanwaterfacility.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

The African Water Facility is a multilateral trust fund administered by the African Development Bank that provides grants and technical assistance to prepare bankable water and sanitation projects across 52 African countries, serving governments, basin organizations, and regional bodies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Development Finance and Water Infrastructure Project Preparation

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525), Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (22131), Environmental Consulting Services (541620)

SIC

International Affairs (9721), Water Supply (4941)

akta.pro primary industry

Infrastructure & Project Finance Facilities (BPADACAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Climate Finance Funds & Green Investment Facilities (BPADACAH), Water Resources, WASH & Integrated Water Management (BPADALAH), National Development Banks & State Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) (BPADACAC)

Keywords

• Water project financing
• Grant funding
• Technical assistance
• Water sanitation
• Project preparation

Headquarters

HQ city

Abidjan

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Grant Financing: AWF provides grants to eligible recipients including regional member countries, sub-national entities, regional governmental agencies, river/lake basin organizations, regional economic communities, non-governmental organizations, and institutions concerned with water resource development.
2. Catalytic Investments: Seed funding to enable project owners to implement projects through co-financing arrangements, supporting innovative business models and technologies, and mobilizing private sector financing with viability gap funding.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The African Water Facility (AWF) is a multilateral fund that mobilises financial and human resources to prepare bankable, investment-ready water and sanitation projects across Africa. It provides grants, non-grant financing, and expert technical assistance to eligible recipients including African governments, regional bodies, NGOs, and basin organisations, supporting the full lifecycle from project preparation through to catalytic investment and downstream financing mobilisation.

Product overview

African Water Facility (AWF) operates as a single, unified project preparation and financing facility, not a modular software platform. Its core offering is mobilising and deploying financial and human resources to achieve water security and sanitation across Africa. The portfolio is organised around two key initiatives: (1) AWF itself, which focuses on project preparation, catalytic investment, investment promotion, and water governance across water supply, sanitation, irrigation, hydropower, and transboundary water resources; and (2) AUSII (Africa Urban Sanitation Investment Initiative), a dedicated sub-programme window launched in 2019 to address urban sanitation through grants, technical assistance, and blended finance instruments. AWF also maintains a Project Portal providing comprehensive project data and a rolling pipeline of investment-ready projects. Together, these form a continuum from upstream project development through to downstream financing mobilisation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Africa Urban Sanitation Investment Initiative (AUSII): A dedicated urban sanitation financing window of the African Water Facility, created in 2019 to increase the scale and impact of investments in urban sanitation services in Africa.

Products and services

• African Water Facility (AWF) The main project preparation facility for climate-resilient water and sanitation projects in Africa. AWF mobilises financial and human resources to prepare bankable projects, makes catalytic investments, supports water governance, and promotes investments across water supply, sanitation, irrigation, hydropower, and transboundary water resources.
• Africa Urban Sanitation Investment Initiative (AUSII) A dedicated urban sanitation financing window of AWF that increases the scale and impact of investments in urban sanitation services across seven pilot countries (Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, Mauritania, Côte d'Ivoire, and Togo) through grants, technical assistance, and blended finance instruments.

Quantifiable outcome

• 29 million people directly impacted by AWF-supported projects
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and governance.

• African Development Bank (AfDB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAWF is administered by the African Development Bank. AfDB provides institutional support, governance oversight, and operational delivery through its regional offices across Africa.
• African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAWF was founded by AMCOW. AMCOW appoints 5 members to the 13-member Governing Council and provides policy direction for the facility.
• Association of European Development Finance InstitutionsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on investment promotion event in Brussels (March 2025) to showcase water and sanitation investment opportunities in Africa.
• UN-Water/AfricagovernanceStrategic or Co-development PartnerAppoints 1 member to the AWF Governing Council.
• African UniongovernanceStrategic or Co-development PartnerRepresented by NEPAD Secretariat, appoints 1 member to the AWF Governing Council.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit): German federal development agency implementing WASH and water governance programs across Africa. Comparable as a bilateral implementing partner with overlapping African water sector programming and project preparation mandate.
• FMO (Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank): Dutch DFI providing financing for water, sanitation, and infrastructure projects in developing countries including Africa. Comparable as a DFI that both co-funds and provides downstream investment to AWF-prepared bankable water projects.
• International Finance Corporation (IFC): World Bank Group's private sector development finance arm that mobilizes commercial capital for water and infrastructure projects in emerging markets. Comparable to AWF as a downstream capital mobilizer that AWF-prepared projects frequently tap into.
• World Bank Water Global Practice: Multilateral water sector financing arm of the World Bank Group, providing policy lending and project finance for water infrastructure globally. Comparable as a much larger incumbent in the same multilateral water financing space AWF occupies.

Others

• WaterAid: International NGO focused on water, sanitation and hygiene in Africa and Asia. Comparable as an adjacent water-sector organization working on WASH policy and programming in the same African geographies AWF serves.
• UN-Water: UN inter-agency coordination mechanism for freshwater and sanitation, with a UN-Water/Africa regional arm. Comparable as AWF's Governing Council includes a UN-Water/Africa appointment, making it a peer in multilateral water governance.

Direct peers

• Global Water Partnership (GWP): Intergovernmental organization focused on integrated water resources management globally, with strong Africa regional presence. Directly comparable to AWF as a multilateral water-focused facilitation and capacity-building institution serving developing-country governments.
• Nordic Development Fund (NDF): Nordic multilateral development finance institution providing grants and concessional finance for climate and development projects. Directly comparable as NDF is an existing AWF co-funder (€12M AUSII pledge) with similar grant-based, project preparation mandate.
• Green Climate Fund (GCF): Multilateral climate finance facility that funds climate-resilient water and sanitation projects in developing countries. Directly comparable to AWF as a project preparation and grant/blended finance vehicle targeting climate adaptation in Africa.

Emerging players

• Convergence Blended Finance: Global blended finance platform curating and catalyzing blended finance deals for development. Comparable as an emerging adjacent platform helping structure the blended finance vehicles AWF increasingly deploys for water projects.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCvFaCu9l0M6WVO1iK2_d-_g
• Xx.com/AWFbroadcast
• Facebookfacebook.com/AfricanWaterFacilityNetwork
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/awfnetwork

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about African Water Facility