This report was prepared by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE) led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, Director, as part of the Programme of Work and Budget of the Regional Development Policy Committee. This report is an output from the OECD Programme on Water Security for Sustainable Development in Africa, launched in 2018 by the OECD Secretary-General and developed in cooperation with the Kingdom of Morocco and the World Water Council, as a follow-up to the 6th edition of the King Hassan II Great World Water Prize.
Maria Salvetti, Water Economist and Policy Analyst in the OECD Water Governance Programme, co‑ordinated the overall policy dialogue under the supervision of Aziza Akhmouch, Head of the Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development Division in the CFE. Oriana Romano, Head of the Water Governance Programme, CFE and Juliette Lassman, Junior Policy Analyst in the CFE, contributed with comments on the report and substantive inputs. Arthur Minsat, Head of the Europe, Middle East and Africa Unit provided comments on earlier drafts.
The OECD Secretariat is grateful for the support and commitment from United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) of Africa in conducting the OECD survey on water governance and providing comments on the draft report, in particular: Jean-Pierre Elong Mbassi, Secretary-General; Mohamed Nbou, Director of the Climate, Biodiversity and Food Security Department, Head of the Climate Task Force; Soumia Benlebsir, Project Manager for Stakeholder Mobilisation and Territorialisation of National Contributions; and Nisrine Bennani, Project Manager for Climate Finance Mobilisation.
Special thanks are herein conveyed to the cities that took part in the survey on water governance: Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire); Abuja (Nigeria); Accra (Ghana); Al Hoceima (Morocco); Antananarivo (Madagascar); Bama (Burkina Faso); Bangangte (Cameroon); Bangui (Central African Republic); Banjul (Gambia); Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso); Brazzaville (Congo Republic); Cape Town (South Africa); Chefchaouen (Morocco); Cocody (Côte d’Ivoire); Cotonou (Benin); Dakar (Senegal); Dionaba (Mauritania); Fes (Morocco); Golf 3 (Togo); Kampala (Uganda); Kanembakache (Niger); Lome (Togo); Lusaka (Zambia); Maputo (Mozambique); Marrakech (Morocco); Mbour (Senegal); Meknes (Morocco); Monrovia (Liberia); Nouakchott (Mauritania); Rabat (Morocco); Rosso (Mauritania); Saint-Louis (Senegal); Tanger (Morocco); Tetouan (Morocco); Thies (Senegal); and Vogan (Togo).
Furthermore, the draft report benefitted from comments and feedback from: Kevin Collins, Senior Lecturer Environment and Systems at the Open University; Colin Herron, Senior Water Resources Management Specialist at the Global Water Partnership; Donal O’Leary, Senior Advisor at Transparency International; Debjyoty Mukherjee, Principal Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Finance Specialist at the African Bank of Development; Barbara Schreiner, Executive Director at the Water Integrity Network; and Rob Uijterlinde from the Dutch Water Authorities.
Earlier drafts of this report were discussed at two webinars with survey respondents and key stakeholders held on 17 September 2020 and 1 March 2021. Interim findings were also presented at the 14th meeting of the OECD Water Governance Initiative (2-3 November 2020). The report was submitted for approval by written procedure to the Regional Development Policy Committee on 18 February 2021 under the cote CFE/RDPC(2021)2. Special thanks are extended to Pilar Philip for preparing the report for publication and to Eleonore Morena for editing and formatting the report.