Sub-Sahara Africa has $57 billion of active water and hydro projects

There are more than $57 billion of active water and hydropower projects in Sub-Sahara Africa. Growing populations, rapid urbanisation and food security drive, increasing demand on Sub-Sahara Africa’s water resources.  

With a population exceeding 1.1 billion, Sub-Sahara Africa is investing more than $11 billion in water projects. More than $8 billion of water projects are under construction with a further $3 billion in the pre-execution stage.

Kenya and Ghana are leading the field with both countries having close to $2 billion of active water projects each. Third place is Zimbabwe with roughly $1.5 billion of active water projects.  

Ghana’s Pwalugu Multi-Purpose Dam project has a $993 million budget and one of the largest irrigation projects in Sub-Sahara Africa. The Thwake multi-purpose dam project in Kenya will supply hydroelectricity, irrigation and flood control to the area.   

When including Hydropower projects, active projects’ total value increases dramatically to more than $57 billion. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has the largest share of projects at $17 billion or 18 per cent of the active project market.

China’s Sinohydro Corporation Limited is the largest contractor, followed by China Gezhouba Group Company Limited.   

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