The African Water and Sanitation Association (AfWASA), which rebranded from the African Water Association in February 2023 to include sanitation utilities and other related organisations, has transformed its operational technical arm into the Strategic and Technical Council (STC).

Previously the Scientific and Technical Council, the revamped STC now has new objectives and mandates to better integrate aspects of its development on a pan-African scale.

These include enhancing memberships; implementing capacity-building programmes taking into account the specificities of each region and country; knowledge sharing, including through the publication of manuals, professional technical sheets and scientific articles in the sector; and diversifying partnerships and financial resources of the organisation.

Speaking at AfWASA’s ninety-first Scientific and Technical Council meeting, hosted by Rand Water and the Water Research Commission from July 3 to 5 in Johannesburg, AfWASA executive director Sylvain Usher said that the new STC comprised two distinct entities, namely the Strategic Council and task teams called Specialist Groups.

This is one outcome of AfWASA’s process, started in 2019, to reform its governance and management structures to increase its efficiency as part of its mandate to build capacities in the sector across Africa.

The association’s main mandate is to coordinate the search for knowledge and latest developments in innovation, technology, legal, administration and economic opportunities in the water, sanitation and the environment sectors.

While work was already underway with the Specialist Groups, the new STC was expected to be fully operational by the end of the year, he told Engineering News on the sidelines of the meeting on Monday.

The Strategic Council will be coordinated by a committee of 25 members, for which AfWASA issued a call for applications for the first leaders, for a two-year period, with a mandate set from 2023 to 2025.

Covering five regions across Africa, namely Eastern, Northern, Southern, Western and Central Africa, the committee will comprise 10 water company representatives, two per region, as well as five representatives of sanitation companies and local authorities, with one from each region.

Further, the committee will be made up of two representatives each of universities or research institutes and manufacturers or industrialists; and one representative each of regulators, service providers, non-governmental organisations, individual members, the Women African Professional network for Water and Sanitation, and the Young Water Professional network.

The scope of responsibilities includes providing advice to the executive board on the strategic topics of AfWASA; supporting the implementation of the association’s strategic plan; providing the appropriate orientation advice to the executive office for the achievement of its objectives; stimulating and approving the creation of Specialists Groups and promoting their activities; as well as potentially setting up of specific working groups.

Further responsibilities include approving the activities of Specialist Groups or any other working group created within AfWASA; dissolving the Specialist Groups or any other working group if the objectives set are not achieved; coordinating the activities of existing professional networks; and encouraging and identifying task forces.

The Strategic Council will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the executive board.

Following the closure of the applications on June 14, which was open for 14 days, applications were received from one water company representative each from the Northern and Central African regions; two from the Southern Africa region, seven from Western Africa and five from Eastern Africa.

Only three applications were received from sanitation companies and local authorities, one each from Western, Central and Eastern Africa regions, and none from Northern and Southern Africa.

While no applications were received from regulators, two were received from universities or research institutes; one from manufacturers or industrialists, nongovernmental organisations, and service providers; and 11 applications were received from individual representatives.

AfWASA, through its ethics and governance subcommittee, will analyse the requests received and finalise the list of the Strategic Council members, with the potential of reopening the applications at the end of July.