I first came across Alex’s leadership at the 9th World Water Forum in Dakar during the launch of the International High-Level Panel on Water Investments for Africa. I still remember my reaction: the US$30 billion annual target struck me as both audacious and necessary, while the fact that it had presidential backing was extraordinary.
I walked away impressed, but also curious: who was behind this boldness? More importantly: how could such a target ever be achieved in practice?
One year later, at the All Systems Connect Symposium in The Hague in 2023, Alex joined online to present the AIP investment pyramid and the scorecard. Listening to him explain how governance reforms, efficiency gains, and domestic resource mobilisation could unlock billions, I felt something shift in me. For the first time, I could see a credible roadmap to fix the financing puzzle that had haunted us for decades. That was the moment I became convinced: the AIP was not just another initiative — it was a game changer.
In 2000, Africa’s Heads of State adopted the Africa Water Vision 2025. Its goals were bold: universal water security as a foundation for development. Yet one constraint made this vision impossible to achieve: finance.
For 25 years, the sector spoke of policies, capacity, technologies, and infrastructure — but the question of “who pays, and how” was left unresolved. Spending stagnated at US$10–19 billion annually, against a need of US$64 billion per year. The cost of inaction was immense: Africa lost up to 5% of its GDP annually — about US$200 billion every year — to poor water and sanitation.
As someone who has spent most of my professional life grappling with the stubborn barriers in the water sector, I have always felt this financing gap as the heaviest stone in our path.
1. Change mindsets: Perhaps Alex’s most profound achievement is the mental model shift: water is no longer a development afterthought but a strategic investment for Africa’s transformation. With the AIP adopted by the AU and presented at the UN 2023 Water Conference, he helped reset the “common sense” of how water is viewed globally.
2. Transform courageously: The AIP is not a traditional programme but a bold innovation in system design — blending efficiency gains (US$11.5B/yr), domestic instruments such as a mineral resources tax and institutional investors (~US$17.5B/yr), and global climate and development finance (~US$4.2B/yr). Alex pushed the sector to explore new instruments, step outside its comfort zone, and engage directly with bankers, pension funds, and sovereign wealth managers.
3. Transcend boundaries: He broke sector silos by bringing Finance Ministries, Heads of State, G20 leaders, DFIs, private investors, and climate funds into the water conversation. At the Cape Town AIP Summit 2025, this boundary-crossing leadership delivered visible results: US$10–12 billion in preliminary annual pipelines surfaced and a G20 legacy Global Outlook Council on Water Investments was launched.
4. Shift the power table: For decades, water was the preserve of engineers and sector specialists. Alex deliberately moved the conversation to Presidents and Ministers of Finance, making them the owners of the agenda. This is the deepest form of systems change: shifting who makes decisions and who controls resources.
5. Build long-term resilience: Instead of chasing short-term projects, Alex anchored water finance in a continental scorecard and a long-term policy reform agenda, guided by the investment pyramid. This makes water finance part of the institutional DNA of the African Union (AU) and its Member States — not a one-off initiative.
My online interactions with Alex eventually turned into a face-to-face conversation at the Water Investment Summit in Cape Town in September 2025. I shared with him my concept for the All Systems Africa Symposium – Kigali 2026.
What impressed me most was how quickly he responded. Within five minutes of listening, Alex said: “Yes, let’s work together to make this successful — you should pitch this to the whole audience.”
That moment stayed with me. Here was someone who had just mobilised billions in investment commitments, yet he was immediately ready to support a new idea that could carry the agenda further. That kind of openness and decisiveness is the mark of a true systems leader.
What Africa failed to resolve in 25 years — the financing question — is now backed by:
- A clear target: US$30 billion per year by 2030.
- A clear pathway: three finance pathways (efficiency → domestic → global).
- A clear accountability tool: the AIP-PIDA Water Investment Scorecard.
- A clear political platform: AU Heads of State + G20 legacy Global Outlook Council.
This is not incremental strengthening; it is true system transformation.
The AIP is Africa’s new response to an old problem. But what makes it truly historic is the systems leadership that brought it alive. Alex Simalabwi embodies the qualities our sector desperately needs: the courage to challenge paradigms, the ability to convene across boundaries, and the vision to align water finance with Africa’s growth and dignity.
It was also his clear vision that led Alex to strongly support the concept of the All Systems Africa Symposium – Kigali 2026, which he sees as the logical follow-up to the AIP Summit in Cape Town. Kigali will provide a space to advance the national reforms needed to strengthen governance, improve efficiency, and free up domestic resources for water in Africa.
His current leadership of the Global Water Partnership Organisation and it’ global transformation agenda marks the natural next phase of this journey. Having driven Africa’s continental shift through the AIP, Alex is now taking this systems change to the global level — expanding the conversation beyond Africa to a worldwide coalition for water investments. In doing so, he connects the dots between Africa’s experience in systemic reform and the global economic and climate security agenda.
As I reflect on this journey, I realise how much I have been personally inspired by Alex's leadership. He has shown me that transformation comes not from projects or technical fixes, but from reshaping the systems of power and finance that decide what is possible.
That is why I want to end with an invitation: systems leaders at all levels — from governments, finance institutions, utilities, civil society, and the private sector — should join us in Kigali in July 2026. Together, we can move from vision to transformation, and ensure water becomes a true driver of prosperity — in Africa and beyond.
At IRC we think that global challenges require a new kind of leadership: systems leadership. On 3 December, 2025, IRC organised an online event that explores systems leadership — leadership that embraces complexity, collaboration and courage. Alex Simalabwi featured as a panellist in the event. The event marked the launch of IRC's Systems Leadership suite, featuring a thought leadership essay on systems leadership in WASH, a technical paper on applying systems thinking and a free online course for emerging and established systems leaders.
Explore the essay Read the technical paper Sign up for the online course