ZERO DRAFT NARRATIVE

The ACWA Platform is a pan-African coalition led by WRI and various partners to address projected tripling of water demand and extreme climate risks in African cities by 2050. It operates alongside the ACWA Fund, a blended finance instrument providing grants and investments to transform strategic plans into investment-ready projects. The platform focuses on nine strategic priorities, including prioritizing vulnerable communities and leveraging emerging technology, with a goal to increase water resilience in 100 city-regions by 2032.

• By 2050, water demand in Africa is expected to triple and the urban population is projected to more than double, with over two-thirds of African cities likely facing extreme climate risks and water-related shocks.
• The ACWA Platform is supported by the ACWA Fund, which utilizes a blended finance approach combining concessional grants and loans from philanthropy, private donors, bilateral agencies, and development finance institutions, as well as government funds, to attract commercial and impact investment.
• The ACWA Fund provides three specific resource streams: grants for analytical support to create action plans, repayable grants for project preparation, and direct investment in innovative projects.
• The platform's theory of change aims to scale water resilience action plans to 100 cities by 2032, targeting impacts including 29 million direct beneficiaries, 64,000 created jobs, and 137 million m3 of water saved.
• The ACWA Platform has identified nine strategic priorities for urban water resilience, which include increasing equitable water service in informal settlements, adopting holistic water catchment and supply planning, strengthening locally rooted governance, and utilizing digital and SMART technology.
• Current implementation of risk-based planning using the City Water Resilience Approach (CWRA) is underway in specific cities: Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa in Ethiopia, Kigali and Musanze in Rwanda, and Johannesburg and Gqeberha in South Africa.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). ZERO DRAFT NARRATIVE. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-08/acwa-platform-narrative.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. ZERO DRAFT NARRATIVE. n.d. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-08/acwa-platform-narrative.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=ZERO DRAFT NARRATIVE |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-08/acwa-platform-narrative.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendzero, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{ZERO DRAFT NARRATIVE}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-08/acwa-platform-narrative.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }