Strengthening public-private engagement, Global Water Partnership and AquaFed sign Memorandum of Understanding 

On 23 October, on the margins of High-Level Ministerial Meeting in Madrid, the Global Water Partnership (GWP) and AquaFed signed a Partnership Framework for joint initiatives and actions focused on advancing their shared goals and objectives around advancing water investments through enhanced public-private partnerships.

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Recognising the urgent global water investment gap, estimated between USD 115–140 billion annually, and the need for targeted financing at the national and subnational level, and both aiming to mobilise high-level commitments for effective climate-resilient water investments that support SDG 6 implementation, GWP and AquaFed signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the 2025 Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) Sector Ministers’ Meeting – a high-level forum convened by the SWA partnership and UNICEF, and hosted by the Government of Spain.

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Neil Dhot, Executive Director of AquaFed, and Alex Simalabwi,

CEO of GWPO and Executive Secretary of GWP, signing the MoU

 

 

AquaFed is an International Federation of Private Water Operators, representing more than 400 private water operators and partner organisations providing water and sanitation services in more than 40 countries worldwide. It aims to “accelerate the creation and development of markets for public private partnerships in water and wastewater services,” making it a suitable partner for GWP in efforts on blended finance and project match-making.

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"With this collaboration, we will look to increase support to government ministries and public authorities in developing different models of collaboration with the private sector, including developing their skills and expertise”", said Alex Simalabwi.

Neil Dhot said: “Our work to support governments in project preparation is totally aligned to the excellent work the GWP is doing, so a formal partnership makes complete sense. This is a really exciting opportunity for both organisations and we cannot wait to get started.”

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Below is a list of key areas of collaboration, many of which include engaging the private sector alongside the public sector and political bodies.

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Areas of cooperation

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• Building skills, capacities in government ministries and public authorities, to build frameworks, technical expertise for project pipeline development and implementation of public-private-partnership projects.
   

• Develop a PPP Toolkit for supporting governments and ministries to understand the full range of private sector participation models and the conditions needed for implementation that leads to fair and equitable returns for all.
   

• Providing private sector input and expertise for governments developing their water and sanitation projects before they approach investors.
   

• Support match-making platforms by aligning finance sources with project pipelines and promote development of markets for public private partnerships in water and wastewater services 
   

• Promote innovative blended finance mechanisms to de-risk priority water investments using a variety of innovative financial instruments and de-risking instruments such as guarantees, loans, reimbursable grants, sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors and private equity, climate finance and others.

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GWP to enhance its private sector focus through 2026-2030

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The private sector is key to achieving the overarching goal of GWP’s Strategy 2026-2030, Transforming Climate-Resilient Water Investments for a Water Secure World, both as co-investor and co-implementer of water governance. Therefore, its role is central for two of the five defined strategic interventions of GWP’s Strategy:
 

• Mobilise high-level commitments with G20 countries, multilateral development banks, the private sector and other global leaders, national and sub-national governments to achieve water investments targets.
   

• Unlock innovative blended public–private finance, leveraging public and private capital for climate-resilient water services, mobilising large-scale institutional investors, and enabling governments to access cheaper capital for water security.
   

The private sector is a wide-ranging term bringing together distinct entities with their own objectives, approaches, and strategies. The 2026-2030 Strategy recognises that a range of solutions relevant to different types of private sector bodies are necessary. In addition to the collaboration with AquaFed, GWP is advancing an ambitious agenda aiming to mainstream water replenishment strategies within public sector frameworks, in collaboration with leading water using companies from around the globe. Approved projects with Coca Cola and Microsoft will be scaled up in the coming months and years to bring in more companies, to collectively increase the scale of climate-resilient water investments.

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