African Water Facility Opens 2026 Call for Proposals With Grants of Up to €1 Million

African Water Facility Opens 2026 Call for Proposals With Grants of Up to €1 Million

Organisations and institutions working to transform Africa’s water and sanitation sector have a major funding opportunity through the African Water Facility 2026 Call for Proposals, which offers grant financing of up to €1 million for eligible projects.

The African Water Facility, an initiative of the African Ministers’ Council on Water hosted by the African Development Bank, launched the call to strengthen the continent’s pipeline of investment-ready water and sanitation projects.

Applications are expected to close on 10 September 2026.

About the 2026 Call

Access to safe water and adequate sanitation remains one of Africa’s major development challenges, while climate change, population growth and rapid urbanisation are increasing pressure on existing infrastructure.

The African Water Facility’s latest call seeks to move promising ideas towards implementation by supporting projects capable of attracting wider investment and producing sustainable development benefits.

The programme focuses on high-impact, investment-oriented projects in Africa’s water and sanitation sectors.

It particularly seeks initiatives capable of accelerating access to finance, strengthening climate resilience, improving service delivery and contributing to inclusive and sustainable development.

Funding Available

Eligible proposals may receive grant financing of up to €1 million.

This makes the programme significantly larger than conventional NGO microgrants and particularly relevant to institutions with technically developed projects that could eventually mobilise substantial public or private investment.

What Kind of Projects Are Expected?

The programme is particularly suitable for initiatives capable of strengthening Africa’s water and sanitation investment pipeline.

Potential areas include improved water supply, sanitation services, climate-resilient water infrastructure, institutional strengthening, innovative financing approaches, investment preparation and projects capable of improving sustainable service delivery.

Successful concepts are expected to go beyond small, isolated interventions and demonstrate how grant support can prepare or unlock larger-scale investment.

Who Should Consider the Opportunity?

The call has a continent-wide geographic scope and targets eligible African water and sanitation institutions and organisations.

Potential applicants should carefully review the official call documentation because eligibility requirements may differ depending on the nature and structure of the proposed project.

Government institutions, utilities, regional organisations and eligible sector institutions are among the actors associated with the call. Organisations considering an application should therefore not assume that ordinary NGO registration alone guarantees eligibility.

Partnerships may be particularly important where a civil society organisation has strong community experience but requires technical, governmental or institutional partners to develop an investment-ready intervention.

Why the Opportunity Matters

Water and sanitation programmes often require considerably more investment than traditional community-development grants can provide.

A community may need a borehole, water-treatment system, sanitation network or climate-resilient water infrastructure, but the cost of preparing technical designs, feasibility studies and investment structures can prevent promising ideas from reaching implementation.

Project-preparation financing can help bridge this gap.

For African organisations already working on WASH, climate adaptation, environmental sustainability and community resilience, the call presents an opportunity to think beyond isolated activities and develop interventions capable of attracting long-term investment.

Preparing a Competitive Proposal

Interested institutions should begin by clearly defining the water or sanitation problem they intend to solve.

Applicants should be able to demonstrate the size of the affected population, existing service gaps, climate and environmental risks, proposed solution and expected social and economic benefits.

Strong proposals should also explain how the project can become technically and financially viable and how the proposed grant will help move the intervention towards implementation or additional financing.

Where possible, applicants should use credible data to demonstrate need and clearly identify expected beneficiaries.

Application Deadline

The deadline for the 2026 call is:

10 September 2026

Prospective applicants should avoid waiting until the final days because major infrastructure and investment-oriented applications may require technical documentation and institutional approvals.

How to Apply

Interested organisations and institutions should access the official African Water Facility call, download and study the full application guidelines, verify institutional eligibility and prepare the required documentation.

African Water Facility 2026 Call for Proposals

Applicants should rely on the official call documentation for final eligibility, required attachments and submission instructions.

Deadline: 10 September 2026.