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Zambia needs about $5.7billion to implement programmes under the Water Investment agenda, authorities have said.
Minister of Water and Sanitation, Mike Mposha, said to this effect, government was looking at financing models such as Concessional Loans, Grants and Public-Private Partnerships.
Mposha said this during the Eastern and Southern Africa Leadership Summit on Universal Access to Water Sanitation and Hygiene in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Minister stated that Zambia was ready to embrace investments in the water and sanitation sectors and that the government has positioned itself to attract more private partner financing in the water sector.
“Zambia had a Public Private Partnership (PPP) legal framework that safeguards the interest of both the public and the private sector further assuring potential investors of attractive incentives,” Mposha said.
He stated that the country was leveraging the African Union, African Water Investment Programme promoting private investment in the water sector.
“Zambia was one of the two countries in Africa that had already domesticated the programme through the establishment of the Zambia Water Investment Programme,” Mposha added.
On the sidelines of the Water Summit, the Minister held a bilateral meeting with representatives of the World Bank.
The Minister informed the World Bank Global Director for Water, Saroj Kumar Jha, that Zambia was currently undertaking an inventory of dams to assess the infrastructure that Zambia had for water harvesting and storage.
“Zambia did not have adequate technical know-how in water harvesting but was keen to learn from countries that have been practicing water harvesting,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kumar Jha called for prudent management of financial resources in the water sector.
He said countries should manage financial resources prudently because this could affect the provision of water and sanitation services.
Kumar Jha also echoed calls by the Minister for private-sector financing in the water sector but was quick to state that cost-effective tariffs could attract investment in the sector.
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