PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has launched an ambitious $30 billion annual investment initiative to tackle the global water crisis, unveiling a new Global Outlook Council on Water Investments that he said could transform “water from a crisis sector into an opportunity sector.”
Speaking at the opening of the Africa Water Investment Summit in Cape Town, Ramaphosa declared the gathering “a landmark moment not only for Africa, but for the global movement for access to safe water for all,” as he announced South Africa’s most significant water diplomacy initiative during its G20 presidency.
“We gather here as decision-makers, investors, financiers and champions at a time when the world faces a deepening water crisis,” Ramaphosa told assembled world leaders and investors. “Yet, this is also at a moment of immense opportunity. If we rise together, water can become not just a means of survival but a driver of economic transformation, innovation and peace.”
The Global Outlook Council represents the culmination of nearly a decade of South African-led diplomacy, building on a 2016 High-Level Panel on Water launched by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.
“The panel set us the task to mobilise at least 30 billion US Dollars a year by 2030 to close Africa’s water investment gap,” Ramaphosa explained. “South Africa is proud to be a founding member of this Panel and to answer the call to host this Africa Water Investment Summit in the context of our G20 Presidency.”
The president outlined four clear summit objectives: endorsing a declaration to scale up investments, showcasing “a pipeline of 80 priority water investment projects from 38 countries,” facilitating matchmaking between governments and financiers, and positioning “water at the highest levels of the global political and financial agenda from G20 and COP30 to the UN 2026 Water Conference and beyond.”
Star-Studded Leadership Coalition
Ramaphosa announced an unprecedented coalition of global leaders to co-chair the initiative, describing it as bringing “Africa and international partners together and calling on investors to heed the call to invest in water.”
The co-chairs include UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“I am pleased to acknowledge the invited leaders that will work with the South African G20 Presidency as co-chair in the leadership of this Council,” Ramaphosa said, before inaugurating an impressive roster of council members including Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed will serve as “Alternate Co-Chairs as facilitators for effective broad engagement of the Council members,” Ramaphosa announced.
From Africa to Global Scale
The president emphasised that the initiative represents a major scaling up of existing efforts. “The launch of the Global Outlook Council on Water Investments will see the Africa Water Investment Programme scaled up into a Global Water Investment Platform,” he declared.
Ramaphosa traced the diplomatic journey that led to Wednesday’s launch, acknowledging Saudi Arabia for “initiating the first G20 Water Dialogue under its G20 Presidency in 2020, which considered water as a key ingredient for socio-economic development, poverty alleviation, human health and well-being.”
“This process was sustained by the subsequent G20 Presidencies of Italy in 2021, Indonesia in 2022, India in 2023 and Brazil in 2024,” he noted, before announcing that South Africa, “as the current G20 Presidency, in partnership with the African Union and the Africa Investments Panel, recognises it as the ‘AU-AIP Water Investment Summit.'”
Ramaphosa pointed to tangible progress South Africa has already achieved, citing his recent launch of “the second phase of the Zuikerbosch Water Purification Plant in the province of Gauteng.”
“This plant is part of a development that will supply an extra 600 million litres of water a day to address the growing water demand across four South African provinces,” he said. “This flagship project is a demonstration of our government’s commitment to infrastructure investment, economic upliftment and ensuring sustainable water supply for future generations.”
The Global Outlook Council, Ramaphosa explained, “will serve as the world’s premier high-level political and investment platform on water. It will track progress, unlock finance, report annually and align efforts across the G20, UN, multilateral development banks and the private sector.”
“It will mobilise the leadership, capital and innovation required to transform water from a crisis sector into an opportunity sector,” he declared.
Looking ahead to the 2026 UN Water Conference, Ramaphosa said he was “pleased to acknowledge” that the Global Outlook Council initiative would align with the conference’s investment theme: “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”
The council, he said, “will guide the transition from fragmented water investments to a coherent, coordinated and capitalised global effort through the Global Water Investment Platform.”
Call to Action
Ramaphosa issued a direct challenge to the assembled investors and world leaders: “Today, we say clearly: Water investment must no longer be an afterthought at climate and finance discussions. It must be at the centre of discussions. It must be financed, tracked and championed.”
He called for concrete outcomes from the summit’s matchmaking sessions, saying they “should create long-lasting partnerships and increased investments in water.”
“Let us leave this Summit with deals, pipelines, partnerships and a permanent global mechanism to sustain the momentum,” Ramaphosa urged.
Human Rights Focus
The president emphasised the moral imperative behind the initiative, declaring: “Let us build a world where every drop counts and every community thrives. Let us build a world where water is recognised as a human right and not weaponised against women, children and communities.”
Concluding his historic address, Ramaphosa invoked South Africa’s founding democratic president, saying: “In the words of the Founding President of the democratic South Africa, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela: ‘It is now in our hands.'”
The Global Outlook Council represents the most ambitious coordinated global water investment initiative to date, potentially transforming how the world addresses water scarcity affecting billions of people worldwide.
