The fourth edition of the EU-UfM-African Development Bank Conference on Water Finance and Investments took place on 30 and 31 October as part of the Cairo Water Week. Water security is of utmost importance to the Euro-Mediterranean region and Africa: access to clean water, sustainable management, and the ability to combat droughts, floods, and water pollution are essential to their overall wellbeing and socioeconomic prosperity. These challenges were highlighted from a financial perspective at this event within the broader context of the interdependencies binding water to energy, food, and environmental sustainability — the WEFE nexus.

This year the Union for the Mediterranean and the European Union joined forces with the African Development Bank for the first time ever to organise the Conference on Water Finance and Investments in partnership with the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation and with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

Close to 40 speakers, including government representatives from Albania, Egypt, France, Jordan, Malta, Morocco, Sweden and Türkiye, took part in the conference, as did the Minister of Water and Irrigation of Egypt, the Secretary General of the Jordanian Ministry of Water, the Director General of Water of Türkiye, the CEO of the Energy and Water Agency of Malta, and the Head of the EU in Egypt. International financial institutions also contributed to the discussion, particularly on how investment projects apply the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus approach, delving into lessons learned by financial institutions such as the World Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and European development banks.