The President of the African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW) has called on African countries to appropriately place water at the top of their socioeconomic development agenda.

Carl Schlettwein made the call at the closing of the 13th Ordinary Session of the Executive Committee of AMCOW in Windhoek today.

The Namibian Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform stressed that the economic value of water is irreplaceable as no socioeconomic development is possible without it.

However, he pointed out that natural disasters that affect the availability and access to water also disrupt daily life activities.

Hence, Schlettwein, therefore, emphasised the importance of collaborative efforts to boost responsiveness, preparedness, adaptation, and resilience and to manage transboundary and shared water resources.

Furthermore, it should be noted that, in line with the aspirations of Agenda 2063 and SDGs, African countries should ensure the availability of water for all purposes and sanitation for all.

This, he noted, can be achieved through investing in water to create greater resilience to climate, health, and food system shocks and improving the management of water-related disaster risks, among others.

Schlettwein also says there is a need to address the absence of a compelling business case for investment in water as a catalyse for sustaining financing commensurate with Africa's development agenda.

On the occasion, a Policy Brief on Strengthening and Enabling the Environment for Sanitation in Africa was launched, with the goal of accelerating waste-related actions.

The AMCOW 13th Ordinary Session of Exco started on Monday