German Water Partnership expands cooperation with the African water sector

New academy for training staff in Senegal and Rwanda, German delegation to the World Water Forum in Dakar, success stories of the GAPWAS chamber and association partnership project with the African Water Association

Berlin, 27th January 2022: The African continent represents an important market for companies in the German water sector, with its significance steadily increasing. Technologies and know-how “Made in Germany” offer an opportunity to counteract the challenges of local water and sanitation supply. German Water Partnership e.V. (GWP) is therefore expanding its activities in Africa: with the establishment of an African Water and Sanitation Academy (AWASA), the chamber and association partnership project GAPWAS with the African Water Association (AfWA), a German delegation trip to the 9th World Water Forum 2022 in Dakar as well as upcoming activities of the GWP Regional Section Africa. The association is supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), amongst others.

Since 2008, German Water Partnership e. V. and its 300 members have been working to solve water and wastewater management challenges worldwide. In this, international partnerships play a special role. Through close exchange and knowledge transfer on sustainable technologies, GWP thus contributes holistically to improving water supply and sanitation in African countries as well.

“Networking and cooperation with African partners has been an important concern for our network since its foundation. We have a long-standing relationship with the African Water Association (AfWA), which, thanks to support from the BMZ, resulted in the chamber and association partnership “GAPWAS“, which formally began in 2019. We are very pleased to be able to further expand our activities in Africa in 2022 alongside this successful project and look forward to further cooperation in the field of education and training between representatives of the water sector in Germany and professionals in the African water sector,” says Julia Braune, Managing Director, German Water Partnership e.V.

Training academy for professionals in the water and sanitation sector

The recently launched PartnerAfrica project “AWASA” will establish an African Water and Sanitation Academy (AWASA) funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through sequa gGmbH as part of the special initiative training and employment. The project started in December 2021 and will last for three years. The target countries are Senegal and Rwanda, where the first measures of the academy will be implemented over the duration of the project. Both on-site training and digital learning will be offered to educate and train African water sector professionals on various relevant technologies and professional skills. The academy’s trainings will be led by both African and international experts. At the same time, the project offers an opportunity for companies from the German water sector to become involved in the training of professionals in Africa. This commitment creates the basis for a stronger water sector in the target countries and provides access to an Africa-wide network.

German delegation at the World Water Forum in Dakar

The global forum will take place from March 21^st-26^th 2022 in Senegal, Dakar, and will address water and sanitation challenges in Africa and worldwide under the motto “Water Security for Peace and Development”. GWP members will present themselves at a German Pavilion at the Forum as part of a delegation trip jointly organised by GWP, BVMW – Bundesverband mittelständische Wirtschaft and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

German African Partnership for Water and Sanitation (GAPWAS)

GAPWAS is the cooperation project between GWP and the African Water Association (AfWA), which is now in its third year of implementation. Despite the pandemic, the chamber and association partnership was able to implement a variety of activities in 2021, including the introduction of the new event format “Ask the Experts”, a German-African exchange of expertise in the water and wastewater sector. The format offers the speakers unique access to a local expert audience and has been met with great approval on both the German and African sides. Furthermore, AfWA already organised the “Women’s Forum” twice, on the topic of women in the water sector in 2021. The resulting gender roadmap will serve as a best-practice example for AfWA members and will be presented at the World Water Forum in Dakar in 2022.

A large number of technical trainings are planned for 2022, of which nine alone will be conducted by GWP members and in six different African countries.

Regional Section Africa

Through its work in the regional section Africa, German Water Partnership e.V. supports networking and establishing contacts with African institutions and companies, participates in trade fairs and (digital) market exploration or business initiation trips, and organises conferences to facilitate market entry in Africa for German companies and institutions in the water sector. The current focus countries of the regional section are Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Uganda.

About German Water Partnership e.V.

German Water Partnership e.V. (GWP) is a network of around 300 companies and institutions that unites stakeholders of the German industry and research in the water sector. From university institutes to globally represented component manufacturers, the network offers a diversity of expertise. Since its founding in 2008, the initiative has been supported by the five Federal Ministries for the Environment, Research, Development, Economics and the Federal Foreign Office.

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Contact person for the press:

Sophie Henkel
German Water Partnership e.V.
Reinhardtstraße 32
D-10117 Berlin
henkel[at]germanwaterpartnership.de
030 300199-1226