Water security is emerging as one of Africa’s most pressing infrastructure and development priorities as climate variability, ageing water networks, rapid urbanisation and rising demand place increasing strain on the continent’s freshwater systems. Against this backdrop, engineering and professional services firm WSP has strengthened its Africa One Water offering, bringing together more than 150 water specialists across Africa, supported by a global network of approximately 6,000 experts, to help governments, utilities, industries and investors manage water through an integrated systems approach rather than isolated infrastructure projects.
The initiative reflects a growing recognition that Africa’s water challenges extend beyond expanding supply. According to WSP, long-term water resilience requires coordinated management of catchments, treatment facilities, distribution networks, wastewater systems, environmental rehabilitation and operational performance. The company argues that addressing these interconnected issues simultaneously can improve infrastructure reliability, reduce financial losses and strengthen climate resilience across sectors that depend heavily on secure water supplies.
The announcement comes as water stress is becoming an increasingly significant economic risk across Africa. Population growth, industrial expansion and more frequent climate-related shocks are increasing pressure on already constrained water resources, while many public utilities continue to struggle with ageing infrastructure and limited investment capacity. These challenges have implications not only for households but also for agriculture, mining, manufacturing, energy production and urban development, sectors that underpin economic growth and employment across the continent.
South Africa illustrates many of these structural pressures. The country receives less than half the global average annual rainfall and ranks among the world’s most water-stressed economies. According to South Africa’s Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), improving water reliability, expanding access and reducing non-revenue water remain central national priorities. Nearly half of treated water is estimated to be lost before reaching consumers because of leaking pipelines, burst infrastructure, faulty metering and operational inefficiencies, representing substantial financial losses for municipalities while reducing available water supplies.
For African governments facing constrained fiscal environments, reducing water losses has become an increasingly attractive alternative to investing exclusively in new supply infrastructure. Lowering non-revenue water improves utility revenues, increases system efficiency and extends the productive life of existing infrastructure while reducing the need for expensive new dams, pipelines or treatment facilities. Development finance institutions have increasingly recognised water efficiency investments as offering relatively high economic returns while strengthening climate adaptation outcomes.
Read also: https://www.wsp.com/en-za/insights/wsp-africa-one-water-offering
WSP’s Africa One Water model seeks to respond to these realities by integrating expertise across multiple technical disciplines that are often managed independently. The company says its approach combines water treatment, desalination, groundwater assessment, integrated catchment management, hydrology, drainage, wastewater reuse, coastal engineering, digital monitoring, pollution control, environmental remediation and regulatory advisory services within a single framework that supports decision-making across the full water lifecycle.
According to Dr Heidi Snyman, Strategic Technical Advisor for Earth & Environment at WSP in Africa, water-related risks rarely fall within a single technical discipline. Infrastructure performance, environmental compliance, catchment health, water quality, climate exposure and community access increasingly interact in ways that require integrated planning rather than reactive interventions after failures occur. Her return to WSP reflects the company’s effort to strengthen technical leadership as clients confront increasingly complex environmental liabilities, rehabilitation requirements and climate-related water risks.
The integrated model also responds to changing investor expectations. Financial institutions, infrastructure funds and development partners are placing greater emphasis on resilience planning as climate risks become increasingly material to long-term asset performance. Water infrastructure is particularly exposed because prolonged droughts, flooding and deteriorating water quality directly affect operational continuity, maintenance costs and financial performance. Infrastructure developers are therefore increasingly expected to demonstrate how projects will remain viable under changing climate conditions rather than relying solely on historical hydrological assumptions.
The implications extend beyond municipal water systems. Mining companies require increasingly sophisticated approaches to water licensing, contamination management, mine dewatering and long-term environmental rehabilitation. Industrial operators face growing scrutiny over water efficiency and wastewater discharge, while ports and coastal developments must consider marine ecosystem impacts, flood resilience and changing coastal dynamics. For these sectors, integrated water planning has become a strategic business issue rather than a purely environmental obligation.
The economic case for integrated water management is strengthening across Africa as governments seek to balance infrastructure expansion with fiscal sustainability. Water losses, deteriorating assets and fragmented planning increase operational costs while reducing service reliability. By contrast, coordinated investments in efficiency, digital monitoring, asset rehabilitation and reuse can improve financial performance while supporting broader climate adaptation objectives. These outcomes are becoming increasingly important as countries seek to attract private capital into infrastructure sectors that require predictable operational performance and long-term resilience.
Patrick Riley, Director of Water & Maritime at WSP in Africa, argues that improving Africa’s water resilience begins with making existing systems perform more effectively. Rather than relying exclusively on major new infrastructure projects, he notes that reducing non-revenue water, strengthening wastewater treatment, improving operational efficiency and rehabilitating ageing assets can unlock additional capacity within existing systems while lowering long-term costs.
As climate change accelerates hydrological variability across Africa, water security is becoming inseparable from economic resilience. Reliable water systems support agricultural productivity, industrial competitiveness, public health, energy generation and urban development. For governments pursuing sustainable growth, integrated water management is increasingly emerging as an essential component of infrastructure planning, fiscal stability and climate adaptation strategies. The expansion of multidisciplinary approaches such as Africa One Water reflects a broader shift towards managing water as critical economic infrastructure whose resilience will shape Africa’s long-term development trajectory.
