The Fifth Africa Week of Action Against Water Privatisation, held from 13 to 18 October 2025, unfolded across the continent as a coordinated rejection of the accelerating push toward water commodification. Organised by the Our Water Our Right Africa Coalition (OWORAC) in partnership with the Africa Make Big Polluters Pay Coalition, this year’s actions brought together civil society organisations, grassroots movements, journalists, youth advocates and community networks from nine (9) African countries, along with Corporate Accountability in the United States.

Anchored under the theme Public Water for Climate Resilience, the week-long campaign began with a high-level hybrid press conference that brought together more than 100 participants from Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Cameroon, Togo and Gambia, with additional participants from across the world.

In his welcome address, Akinbode Oluwafemi, Executive Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, reflected on the growing convergence of climate pressures and water insecurity. He stressed that the struggle against water commodification is a continental assertion that publicly managed systems anchored in transparency and democratic governance remain the most reliable foundations for equity and resilience. Water justice, he argued, has become the template through which African societies negotiate their survival under intensifying climate strain.

A keynote statement delivered by Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, reinforced this trajectory. He emphasised that Public Community Partnership models, grounded in inclusive governance and environmental protection, offer a viable alternative to privatisation in both urban and rural contexts. Arrojo-Agudo urged African governments to adopt legal frameworks that recognise and protect community-led water systems, noting that water in Africa functions not simply as a natural resource but as an expression of democratic agency that places communities at the centre of decision-making.

The press conference also featured the presentation of a joint civil society statement signed by pro-public water organisations and communities. Delivered by CAPPA’s Programme Officer for the Water Campaign, Sefa Ikpa, the statement called for the suspension of all privatisation schemes, strengthened public financing and transparent contracting mechanisms. It reiterated that climate-resilient water governance cannot emerge from profit-driven models that exclude the poor but must be built through public investment, community participation and continental solidarity.

Solidarity messages from Leonard Shang-Quartey of the Africa Water Justice Network and Neil Gupta of Corporate Accountability further sharpened the critique of privatisation. Both underscored that placing essential services under private control shifts water from a right to a commodity, concentrating power in the hands of a few while undermining universal access. Their interventions echoed the broader view that water regulation, financing and delivery must be reclaimed as public responsibilities to prevent deepening inequality across climate-stressed regions.

An intervention panel moderated by CAPPA’s Media and Communications Officer, Robert Egbe, deepened the discussion with insights drawn directly from on-the-ground experiences.

Speakers, including Fatou Diouf of the Senegal Water Justice Network, Ndivile Mokoena of GenderCC Southern Africa, Professor Adelaja Odukoya of the University of Lagos and CAPPA’s Assistant Executive Director, Zikora Ibeh, examined the patterns of state underinvestment, rising corporate influence and the opacity of Public Private Partnership projects that often sideline community participation. Contributors urged immediate reforms, particularly in Lagos State, where PPP negotiations have continued without full disclosure despite the state’s own public transparency frameworks. The panel agreed that meaningful engagement with affected communities must precede any policy decisions that shape water access, especially in a climate era marked by recurring droughts, flooding and infrastructural decay.

In-Country Actions

As the week progressed, partner organisations across the continent amplified these messages through nationally coordinated campaigns that demonstrated the breadth of mobilisations underway in Africa.

In Nigeria, the movement gained strong momentum through press advocacy and regional engagements. CAPPA led high-level awareness efforts in Lagos while the Disability Not a Barrier Initiative convened stakeholders in Ekiti State, urging authorities to abandon privatisation proposals. In the Northeast, Cheriehomes Global Initiatives and the Rural Agricultural Transformation and Empowerment Initiative anchored a multisite campaign that brought community members from Borno, Adamawa and Yobe together to demand stronger public systems capable of withstanding climate shocks.

Similar energy featured in Ghana, where the Water Citizens Network organised a series of community dialogues known as Durbar gatherings. These conversations highlighted the dangerous intersection between illegal mining, water pollution and privatisation. Activities included a visit to the heavily contaminated River Pra, now under private management, and the launch of a documentary and national media commentary calling for urgent policy reforms to protect water bodies and defend public management.

South Africa’s contributions were led by the Alexandra Water Warriors and Gender CC Southern Africa, who hosted a radio discussion on ALEX FM. Their broadcast examined how prepaid metering systems restrict access for low-income households, particularly women who bear the brunt of water scarcity in informal settlements.

In Zimbabwe, the Voices for Water coalition reignited national mobilisation through an online petition calling for the reversal of the government’s directive to privatise urban water systems. The coalition coupled its petition with an online panel, a webinar centred on keeping water public and media engagements that exposed the risks of privatisation and the need for renewed public investment.

Kenya’s Biodiversity and Biosafety Association convened a press briefing in Nanyuki to denounce water commercialisation in drought-prone regions and emphasise that privatisation compromises community resilience.

Cameroon’s National Autonomous Union of Energy, Water and Mines Workers also held a national press conference reaffirming that water justice must remain at the core of climate adaptation strategies. In Togo, the Centre for Environmental Justice gathered coastal communities in Kpémé for a forum examining the twin threats of privatisation and climate instability, stressing that defending public water is essential to safeguarding both vulnerable populations and fragile ecosystems. Across different countries, participants reiterated that Africa’s water crisis cannot be resolved through privatisation schemes that erode public trust, deepen exclusion and weaken climate resilience. As a way forward, they called for public-community partnerships, sustained public financing and democratic governance of utilities as the only viable path for guaranteeing safe, affordable and publicly controlled water for all.