By Eric Mhunduru

Agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein launched the African Union water investment platform in Cairo.

The N$649 billion water investment platform is part of the African Union’s Continental Africa Water Investment Programme.

Schlettwein is representing Namibia at the Cairo Water Week 2024, which started on Sunday. 

In an interview with Future Media’s Angie Scholtz, Agriculture ministry’s spokesperson, Simon Nghipandulwa said Schlettwein delivered a keynote address at the event.

Nghipandulwa said Schlettwein highlighted a few outcomes that he wanted to come out of the investment programme. 

Schlettwein added that there is a need for African countries to prioritise financing water and sanitation projects in their budget allocations.

“He stated that we cannot go out to development partners seeking financial assistance while we ourselves are under budgeting for the developmental and operational costs for the water and sanitation sector. He noted that we are running the risk of losing the race against the climate change. We could have acted earlier, but we chose not to, The essentials do not change. Whether we have too little or too much water, we humans must survive together with other life on the planet,” said Nghipandulwa.

The event is running under the theme, water and climate, building resilient communities.

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