To make progress in the water sector as in other sectors, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) needs both institutional development and investment finance. One of the region’s main water-related challenge is to extend access to safe drinking water and sanitation (WSS). Only about 58 percent of the population has access to piped water supply and 37 percent has access to improved sanitation.

To achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in water supply and sanitation, the number of people served must more than double, from 350 million in 2000 to 720 million in 2015. Even then, some 200 million would remain unserved. The expected annual cost of meeting the MDG target for water is between US$1.7 and 2.1 billion, and just as much is likely to be needed for sanitation. Most countries are undertaking WSS sector reforms, and some have achieved good progress in expanding access to services and improving operating performance.

Average per capita water availability in the region is about 5,300 cubic meters—moderate by world standards, but much of the region is arid with highly variable rainfall. The high level of rainfall variability is an important factor mitigating against growth and poverty reduction in Africa. Artificial storage is a necessity. For lack of well managed water-storage infrastructure, water-related services—irrigation, water supply, and hydropower—are much less prevalent than in other regions. For example, only 3.6 percent of the region’s total cropland is irrigated. SSA has an extraordinary density of international river basins; successful regional cooperation to develop and manage infrastructure and water flows in these basins promises large benefits.