Coca-Cola & 3 Others Give Africa Clean Water
Access to clean water in some selected African countries is expected to improve in the coming years as private sector players supplement the efforts of governments.
Provision of portable water to make the lives of citizenry comfortable has been the responsibility of governments around the world but in Africa the efforts of managers of the economy has been likened to a drop in an ocean.
At the World Economic Forum on Africa on May 4, 2011, the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, Diageo Plc, WaterHealth International (WHI) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced a strategic partnership to provide sustainable access to safe drinking water in Africa.
Launching the innovative water partnership in Africa programme dubbed, 'Safe Water for Africa' in Cape Town, South Africa, the partners expressed their readiness to commit an initial seed funding of $6 million to deliver safe water access for deprived communities in three African Countries.
Though the projects would start this year in Ghana, over $20 million is expected to be raised in Nigeria and Liberia to provide safe drinking water to about 2 million people in Africa by 2012.
Under the programme the beneficiary communities will use the World Health Initiative's innovative water service delivery model.
A statement issued by Diego said the project would focus on the West African region despite repeated efforts by governments and other organizations to address water issues in the region, though few people today have access to water than 20 years ago.
Nick Blazquez, President, Diageo Africa was happy that through the initiative, leaders in the private sector who share a common commitment, have come together to make a meaningful contribution to the achievement of the Millennium development Goals.
'Easy access to safe drinking water is critical for the economic development of Africa,' he said.
The SWA partnership is a private sector-led initiative based on the use of an innovative, but most importantly self-sustaining, model of water provision.
WHI installs, operates and maintains decentralized water treatment facilities that consist of a small modular structure that houses water purification equipment to treat locally available water through a combination of sedimentation, pre-filtration and ultra-violet technology throughout the developing world.
For years, WHI has provided a sustainable business model under which it constructs a low-cost one-time investment, WaterHealth Centre with a lifespan of over 10 years also works in partnership with communities to determine the appropriate, affordable, usage fees for the water purification service, which allows community members to directly access safe water from the facility at a minimal cost.
William Asiko, President of The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation stated that 'Africa's resilience draws strength from the continent's entrepreneurs. As one of the largest employers in Africa, we understand the promise of Africa's people and seek opportunities to foster their economic opportunities.'
Sanjay Bhatnagar, Chief Executive Officer of WHI explained that sustainability and quality are the basis of the WaterHealth model.
'We look forward to collaborating with Safe Water All donors and other water sector participants to address Africa's water crisis and we hope that the WHI model will provide a template for a scalable, sustainable solution for safe water in Africa.'
By Emelia Ennin Abbey