Kampala, Uganda – 21 February 2025– At the AfWASA International Congress and Exhibition (AfWASA ICE 2025) held in Kampala, Uganda, climate and sanitation experts from across Africa called for greater integration of sanitation into national climate planning to tap into available climate finance opportunities, contribute to reducing greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions, and address climate related challenges. They also called for the adoption of innovative technologies to build resilient, climate-friendly and sustainable sanitation systems across the continent.

At the Congress and Exhibition, held from 16 – 20 February 2025, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) organized a Session on “The Climate-Sanitation Nexus: Climate Resilient Innovative Sanitation Technologies and policies mitigating GHG Emissions”. The session discussed how innovative technologies can be leveraged to reduce emissions from the sanitation sector, build resilient systems, improve service delivery, enhance public health and create economic opportunities to help communities thrive.

The session also explored opportunities for climate finance and highlighted the importance of green investments in driving the sector to become more resilient to climate change. It featured keynote addresses, presentations and a panel discussion on “Closing the gap: Policy and innovative technologies for effective sanitation systems and low emissions in Africa.”

“Countries must integrate sanitation in their updated NDCs, allowing them to mobilize funds to finance sanitation projects needed to mitigate GHGs emissions and strengthen the resilience of services and infrastructure provided by the Government,” Mr. Seydou Coulibaly, Director of Urban Sanitation and Drainage at the Ministry of Hydraulics and Sanitation of Cote d’Ivoire, said. “We must encourage the adoption of innovative technologies as well as economic and social solutions that reduce our carbon footprint.  Everyone – businesses, local authorities, researchers and citizens- has a role to play.”

Ms. Melody Allred, Associate Program Officer from the Gates Foundation, noted that prioritizing sanitation into national climate planning, adopting innovative technologies and catalyzing climate finance for the sanitation sector is not only fundamental to the successful delivery of improved sanitation services, but also necessary to the success of global efforts to address climate impacts.

Additionally, GGGI also facilitated a five-day exhibition on innovative and climate-friendly sanitation technologies, aimed at showcasing solutions from across the continent, that address the double challenges of sanitation and climate change. The exhibition featured five companies and solution providers from Uganda, Kenya and Burkina Faso:

• Arumloo East Africa, a Kenyan company that manufactures and commercializes water-efficient toilets, saving up to 70% of water consumption in the washroom compared to other regular toilets.
• Fresh Life Ltd, a Kenyan based company that works with municipalities and urban residents to develop and scale safe, citywide, inclusive and financially sustainable sanitation solutions in fast growing cities.
• FINISH Mondial, a company working along the entire water and sanitation value chain to create robust ecosystems capable of delivering sustainable and inclusive water and sanitation services.
• Alliance pour le Biodigesteur en Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre, a Burkina Faso based regional organization that is pioneering biodigester technology as a sanitation and waste treatment solution.
• Sistema.bio, a Ugandan social enterprise dedicated to providing farmers with innovative biodigester technology to transform waste into bioenergy and organic fertilizer.

Jerome Fakhry, Africa Regional Technical Lead for Circular Economy at GGGI said: “Technology and innovation are essential to building efficient, sustainable and resilient sanitation systems. The Exhibition showcased that solutions do exist and these need to be adopted and scaled up to build resilience and strengthen climate action.”

Both the exhibition and session on climate-sanitation nexus, with a focus on key technologies and innovative solutions to reduce GHG emissions, were organized by GGGI through the “Promoting Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) through Climate Resilience and green growth in West Africa”, a project funded by the Gates Foundation and implemented by GGGI in Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Cote d’Ivoire. The project seeks to mainstream sanitation into national policies, increase climate finance flows, attract green investments, integrate innovative climate-friendly technologies into the sanitation sector, facilitate knowledge sharing and streamline capacity building for key stakeholders in the climate and sanitation sectors in the target countries.

About the AfWASA International Congress and Exhibition (AfWASA ICE) 2025

Convened by the Government of Uganda in collaboration with the African Water and Sanitation Association (AfWASA), a pan-African association of establishments, enterprises and utilities operating in the areas of drinking water, sanitation, and environment, the 2025 AFWASA International Congress and Exhibition (AfWASA ICE) took place in Kampala, Uganda from 16 to 20 February 2025 under the Theme: “Water and Sanitation for All: A Secure Future for Africa”. The Congress and Exhibition brought together water and sanitation actors from various parts of the world to share knowledge, experience and new breakthroughs in achieving water and sanitation for all of Africa. In 2024, GGGI and AfWASA signed a partnership agreement to collaborate on implementing a regional capacity building program on climate change and sanitation.

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For more information, visit:  https://gggi.org

For more information about the participation of GGGI at the Congress, please contact:

GGGI Africa

Jean Pierre Bucyensenge,

Senior Regional Associate, Communications & Knowledge Sharing
jean.bucyensenge@gggi.org