About Us
‘Providing people in Africa with clean water will save more lives than any other intervention’.
The Africa Water Bank has brought together an expert group of people and organizations to develop the most practical and cost effective clean water points for those people in Africa who need an accessible, safe and reliable source of water.
By using a combination of the latest and most practical technologies and partnering with organizations and communities locally and internationally the Africa Water Bank is able to provide the best solutions for a permanent and clean water supply for those in need. We develop new clean water points and rehabilitate existing ones which have broken down or are no longer working properly.
We are different to many other water organizations in that we insist recipient communities contribute to the development or repair of a water point. A contribution of at least 15% of the cost by way of cash, materials or labor must be made by the recipient community. They must also form a Water Point Management Committee and nominate individuals for training as water point managers before any work commences. These steps ensure that a new or repaired water point will succeed because the recipient community owns and manages the project.
Our experience has shown that unless a recipient community owns and takes responsibility for the development and management of its water point it is likely to fail.
Our Projects
The Africa Water Bank undertakes survey, drilling, construction, water pointrehabilitation/repair, mapping and management and training. Our work isfocused primarily in Africa with the provision of support for ongoing andcompleted projects in the Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Mali and Niger.
We are also currently planning and seeking support for major new projects in Kenya and Zambia which will bring clean water to an additional 2.5 millionpeople. These projects – in the Pokot Districts and the Narok District in Kenya and the Chavuma District in North Western Province in Zambia involve the development ofnew clean water points and the rehabilitation of springs and existing bores,wells, water-pans, dams and rain water collection systems that have brokendown or are not working properly.
The African Water Bank knows and understands that the two most critical elements of any new water point development project are community ownership and community management of the project. We work very carefully to ensure that each community provided with a new clean waterpoint is properly prepared to both own and manage the water point once itis completed. If you want to learn more about how we do this look at our community agreement and what needs to be done on the ground before any work commences on the water point itself. (link) Community Agreement
