Address by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Africa Water Investment Summit and launch of the G20 Presidential Legacy Initiative on Water Investments, Cape Town International Convention Centre

Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government,
Honourable Ministers,
Distinguished Champions,
Development Partners,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour to welcome you to Cape Town for the official opening of the Africa Water Investment Summit.

This Summit is a landmark moment not only for Africa, but for the global movement for access to safe water for all. 

We gather here as decision-makers, investors, financiers and champions at a time when the world faces a deepening water crisis.

Yet, this is also at a moment of immense opportunity. 

If we rise together, water can become not just a means of survival but a driver of economic transformation, innovation and peace.

This Summit is rooted in a journey that began nearly a decade ago.

In 2016, the High-Level Panel on Water was launched by the then UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim. 

At this event nine years ago, eleven Heads of State gathered to rethink how the world approaches water.

Following their recommendations, the African Union established the Africa Water Investment Programme and the International High-Level Panel on Water Investments for Africa. 

The panel set us the task to mobilise at least 30 billion US Dollars a year by 2030 to close Africa’s water investment gap. 

South Africa is proud to be a founding member of this Panel and to answer the call to host this Africa Water Investment Summit in the context of our G20 Presidency.

We are gathered here at this Summit with four clear goals.

Firstly, to endorse a Summit Declaration that commits us to scale-up investments, improve governance and increase accountability in the water sector.

Secondly, to showcase a pipeline of 80 priority water investment projects from 38 countries.

Thirdly, to facilitate matchmaking between governments, financiers and partners.

And fourthly, to position water at the highest levels of the global political and financial agenda from G20 and COP30 to the UN 2026 Water Conference and beyond. 

But today, we are going even further. 

We are witnessing the launch of the Global Outlook Council on Water Investments, which is a G20 Presidential Legacy Initiative. 

We are bringing Africa and international partners together and calling on investors to heed the call to invest in water. 

The launch of the Global Outlook Council on Water Investments will see the Africa Water Investment Programme scaled up into a Global Water Investment Platform. 

I would like to thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for initiating the first G20 Water Dialogue under its G20 Presidency in 2020, which considered water as a key ingredient for socio-economic development, poverty alleviation, human health and well-being. 

This process was sustained by the subsequent G20 Presidencies of Italy in 2021, Indonesia in 2022, India in 2023 and Brazil in 2024. 

And now, South Africa as the current G20 Presidency, in partnership with the African Union and the Africa Investments Panel, recognises it as the “AU-AIP Water Investment Summit.” 

The Global Outlook Council and the Global Water Investment Platform will serve as the world’s premier high-level political and investment platform on water. 

It will track progress, unlock finance, report annually and align efforts across the G20, UN, multilateral development banks and the private sector.

It will mobilise the leadership, capital and innovation required to transform water from a crisis sector into an opportunity sector. 

Last week, we were able to demonstrate the capacity and appetite of Africa on mega project investments when I launched the second phase of the Zuikerbosch Water Purification Plant in the province of Gauteng. 

This plant is part of a development that will supply an extra 600 million litres of water a day to address the growing water demand across four South African provinces. 

This flagship project is a demonstration of our government’s commitment to infrastructure investment, economic upliftment and ensuring sustainable water supply for future generations. 

We are looking forward to the alignment of the Global Outlook Council initiative with the investment theme of the 2026 United Nations Water Conference: “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” 

I am pleased to acknowledge the invited leaders that will work with the South African G20 Presidency as co-chair in the leadership of this Council. These are:

- President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates,

- Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados,

- Mr Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

These distinguished leaders will be assisted by Alternate Co-Chairs as facilitators for effective broad engagement of the Council members represented by my dear brother and sister: 

- President Jakaya Kikwete, Former President of Tanzania,

- Her Excellency Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General.

It is a great honour to inaugurate the following invited leaders as Council Members:

- President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil,

- President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico,

- Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia,

- Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India,

- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia,

- Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom,

- Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany,

- Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy,

- President Ursula von der Leyen of European Commission,

- President João Lourenço of Angola and African Union Chair, and

- President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal, who is co-host of the UN 2026 Water Conference. 

The Council will be supported by a group of global leaders who will serve as Council Champions.

I wish to applaud these leaders, who have stepped forward to confront and overcome a challenge faced by billions of people across the world.

The Council will guide the transition from fragmented water investments to a coherent, coordinated and capitalised global effort through the Global Water Investment Platform. 

Today, we say clearly: Water investment must no longer be an afterthought at climate and finance discussions. 

It must be at the centre of discussions. It must be financed, tracked and championed.

Let us leave this Summit with deals, pipelines, partnerships and a permanent global mechanism to sustain the momentum. 

The matchmaking sessions planned for this Summit should create long-lasting partnerships and increased investments in water. 

Let us build a world where every drop counts and every community thrives. 

Let us build a world where water is recognised as a human right and not weaponised against women, children and communities.

It is my honour and pleasure to officially open the Africa Water Investment Summit and launch the Global Outlook Council on Water Investments.

In the words of the Founding President of the democratic South Africa, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela: “It is now in our hands.” 

Let the work begin. Let us leave no-one behind.

I thank you.