AfDB Plans to Invest $500m in Sanitation Projects

• AfDB Plans to Invest $500m in Sanitation Projects

African Development Bank on Tuesday disclosed it has perfected a new initiative aimed at promoting innovation and sanitation services across sub-Sahara Africa.

In a statement issued by the bank, the development bank said its Africa Urban Sanitation Investment Fund Programme, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, would fund the initiative developed to help the poor.

The bank said it would raise about $500 million in new city-wide inclusive sanitation investments for the AUSIF from the public and private sources alongside the African Water Facility.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in partnership with the Government of the People’s Republic of China, showcased the new initiative at the Reinvented Toilet Expo in Beijing on Tuesday, the AfDB said.

The expo brought together leaders from both private and public sectors who are pushing for pro-poor sanitation technologies in the world’s developing regions.

“The potential impact of this new initiative – created to address urban sanitation in a comprehensive way, ensuring that the poor are also sustainably catered for, is long over-due,” said Director of the Bank’s Water Development and Sanitation Department, Wambui Gichuri.

Gichuri added, “Support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation enhances the Fund’s ability to address sanitation in urban areas for greater outcomes, including in health, nutrition, environment, and employment.”