African leaders, water experts, and development partners will gather for the Continental Level Consultation and Exchange Event on Transboundary Water Cooperation, a major African Union-led forum aimed at advancing cooperation and investment in Africa’s shared water resources.
Organized by the African Union Commission in collaboration with the Global Water Partnership Africa Coordination Unit (ACU), UNDP Africa, GIZ, and GEF IW: LEARN, the event will be held from 17 to 18th February 2026 at the Haile Grand Hotel, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The two-day consultation will bring together Member States, Regional Economic Communities, river and lake basin organisations, civil society, women and youth leaders, researchers, and the private sector. This is the second in a series of engagements under the Africa Transboundary Dialogue and Basin Action (ATDBA) programme, which is a five-year initiative designed to accelerate practical, inclusive, and climate-resilient solutions for Africa’s shared waters.
The consultation builds on the outcomes of the inaugural Pan-African Dialogue held in Addis Ababa in April 2025, which called for a structured platform to strengthen technical exchange and investment coordination on transboundary water management.
The ATDBA programme responds to this need by providing a neutral, implementation-focused space that complements existing African Union and regional mechanisms. It aims to enhance governance, strengthen institutional capacities, promote gender-responsive and inclusive approaches, improve data and monitoring systems, and support the preparation of bankable investment projects in shared basins and aquifers.
Aligned with the African Union’s designation of 2026 as the Year of “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063,” the event will generate critical technical inputs to support the Africa Water Vision and Policy 2063 Implementation Plan.
Participants will review progress since the 2025 consultations, identify priority basins and cooperation challenges, share best practices, and develop actionable recommendations to inform both the AU 2026 Theme Implementation Plan and Africa’s collective engagement in the UN 2026 Water Conference.
With more than 60 percent of Africa’s water resources shared across borders, effective transboundary cooperation is essential for economic development, climate resilience, food and energy security, and regional stability.