Minister Emerges AMCOW’s Vice President For West Africa

Minister of water resources, Suleiman Adamu has emerged the vice president of African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), West Africa.

AMCOW also launched Africa’s water and sanitation knowledge management challenge to encourage sharing of ideas, collaboration, and access to the latest information and innovation among Africa’s water and sanitation stakeholders.

A statement issued by Knowledge management, communications and visibility officer, African ministers’ council on Water, Obinna Anah Richfield, explained that while performing the launching of water and sanitation knowledge management challenge,  minister for Agriculture, Water and Land Reform and the President of the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), Hon. Carl Hermann Gustav Schlettwein, said the idea was to raise the ability to generate and share indigenous water and sanitation sector information and knowledge among the member states.

The statement said the launching of Africa’s water and sanitation knowledge management challenge which took place on the sidelines of the World Water Week 2022 in Stockholm, Sweden, also responded to the Africa Water Vision 2025’s call to improve water wisdom in the continent.

The statement said further that it will also complement AMCOW’s water and sanitation sector monitoring (WASSMO) report to the African Union (AU) heads of state – supported by the African Water Facility through the African Development Bank.

According to the statement, in his remarks during the launching, AMCOW’s Executive Secretariat, Dr Rashid Mbaziira, highlighted knowledge’s critical role in water and sanitation development in Africa.

He underlined that better decisions and policies depend on the quality of data, information and the resultant knowledge made available to the sector.

While presenting the Challenge, AMCOW’s Knowledge Management Officer, Obinna Richfield Anah, listed the initiative’s value propositions, including adequate shared data, information and wisdom, improved decision/policy-making, knowledge brokerage, and increased collaboration, among others.

Anah, however, called on donor agencies and development partners to support the initiative.

In 2002, ministers responsible for water in Africa formed the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) in Abuja, Nigeria to promote cooperation, security, social and economic development, and poverty eradication among member states by effectively managing the continent’s water resources and water supply services.