Providing engineering expertise to make sustainable water projects happen

Climate change plays a critical role in medium-term water availability. Meanwhile as the population of Southern Africa grows, more and more people are forced to live in water-stressed areas. Water projects are set up to address this need, but are often left incomplete because of limited technical skills. As such, the key barrier to water security in the region is not potential financing, but a dearth of prepared projects.

CRIDF’s main goal is to secure finance for infrastructure projects. It uses a demand-driven approach to identify the most important projects to be funded from lists prepared by regional bodies. CRIDF selects those which have the highest potential to influence the way infrastructure is planned and built in the region. By supporting these projects through project preparation: the stage in the engineering project cycle where blockages most often occur – economic feasibility, technical feasibility, environmental impact and social studies – CRIDF gets projects ready for financiers to provide funding for the final stage in the cycle: the works themselves.

To promote long-term sustainability, CRIDF develops local capacity by demonstrating technical project preparation skills, including essential climate resilient mechanisms.