- Our Water, Our Right Africa Coalition
RECLAIMING AFRICA'S WATER FUTURE: PUBLIC WATER FOR ALL!
Join thousands of water rights advocates, women-led community groups, and utility workers from 12–16 October as we present the Pan-African Public Water Manifesto.
Continental Briefing Selector
Organizations
Our Right, Our Water: Standing With Communities
Our Water Our Right Africa Coalition (OWORAC) is a pan-African movement dedicated to defending the human right to water across the continent. We are a network of grassroot organisations, community movements, activists, trade unions, and civil society groups united by the belief that access to clean, affordable water is a fundamental right, not a commodity for profit.
Corporate-driven water privatization models routinely prioritize corporate profits over community access, leaving peri-urban and rural families facing soaring tariffs and dry taps. Through empirical research, community advocacy, and direct coalition building, OWORAC works tirelessly to keep Africa’s water resources in public hands.
Empirical Evidence from the 2026 Continental Audit
Of reviewed Sub-Saharan water PPP contracts failed to meet peri-urban and rural household connection targets over 10 years.
3.2x
More low-income household connections delivered per public dollar via Public-Public Partnerships (PuPs) vs. commercial concessions.
Source: OWORAC & CAPPA Africa Research
Pan-African Coalition Chapters
Halting PPP Concessions & Rebuilding Municipal Waterworks
Our West African coalition partners are driving systemic change by organizing municipal town halls, and mobilizing public campaigns against predatory Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). Our campaigns focus on ensuring public control of water utilities, opposing market-driven policies that prioritise profits over people, and exposing the harmful impacts of water privatisation.
Documented Grassroots Outcome:
Successfully stalled the commercial concession frameworks in three municipal districts, returning oversight directly to elected local water boards.
Active National Chapters: Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, South Africa
Community Water Monitoring · ACA Cameroon
Community Water Parliaments in Action
Local residents and municipal water workers conduct joint audits of public standpipes and neighbourhood water quality to counter privatization narratives.
Popular Education · Douala & Accra
African Center for Advocacy Townhall
Community delegates training on municipal water budget tracking and human rights law.
Policy Forum · Accra, Ghana
World Water Day National Stakeholders Forum
Trade unionists and civil society leaders presenting the Public-Public Partnership blueprint.
Youth Mobilisation · Regional Schools Accra
Next-Generation Water Defenders Assembly
Students and educators organizing to protect school water access from commercial metering.
24 Pages • Available in EN, FR, PT
Report: Africa Must Rise & Resist Water Privatization
A comprehensive empirical investigation into multinational water concessions across Africa and the community-worker movements reclaiming public water systems.
The New Wave of Corporate Water Grabbing in Africa
Traces how multinational water corporations and private equity funds have shifted from direct utility ownership to Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), bulk water purchase agreements, and management contracts that transfer all financial risk onto African taxpayers.
Key Finding: 84% of reviewed water PPP contracts in Sub-Saharan Africa guaranteed private operator profit margins in foreign currency while failing to meet rural and peri-urban connection targets.
World Bank & IMF Conditionalities: Manufacturing Scarcity
Documents how debt restructuring and sovereign loan packages pressure African ministries to freeze public utility hiring, corporatize municipal water boards, and introduce full-cost-recovery tariffs.
Key Finding: Public utilities starved of fiscal transfers for a decade are labeled “inefficient” to justify privatization consultants funded by the very same international lenders.
Gendered Impacts: Why Privatisation Hits Women & Girls First
Field research from Lagos, Harare, Dakar, and Nairobi showing how tariff hikes and prepaid meters force women and school-aged girls to spend 3 to 5 hours daily sourcing unsafe alternative water.
Key Finding: In communities where private concessions raised tariffs above 5% of household income, girls’ school attendance dropped measurably during dry-season rationing.
Pathways to Public Water Justice: Remunicipalisation & PuPs
Presents concrete fiscal and governance blueprints for democratic public water utilities, worker-community co-governance, progressive cross-subsidies, and Public-Public Partnerships (PuPs).
Key Finding: Public-Public Partnerships deliver 3.2x more household connections per dollar invested than commercial PPP concessions due to zero dividend leakage and lower borrowing costs.
Report: Africa Must Rise & Resist Water Privatization
A deep dive into the threats of the water industry taking over systems across Africa and the ways that people have successfully fought back.
Water Justice Unfiltered: The OWORAC Podcast
Dive deep into the fight against water privatisation across Africa. Hear from activists, experts, and community leaders as they share stories, insights, and strategies for securing public water for all.
March 03, 2026 • 28:45 • Zimbabwe
The Water Privatisation Battle in Zimbabwe
An unfiltered look at how citizens in Harare and Bulawayo resisted prepaid water meter rollouts and built…
October 14, 2025 • 34:10 • Senegal
Week of Action Against Water Privatization in Africa with Fatou Diouf
Fatou Diouf unpacks the realities behind Senegal’s private water lease contract with Suez, highlighting why rural and…
October 05, 2025 • 31:20 • West Africa Coalition
Week of Action Against Water Privatization in Africa with Oumar Ba
Oumar Ba explains how water sector trade unions and community movements are forging joint alliances to defend…
Continental Press Room & Dispatches
Latest News & Coalition Statements
Gallery
Coalition Mandate & Governance FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Key principles guiding the Our Water, Our Right Africa Coalition across 14 countries.
OWORAC is a pan-African movement that defends the human right to water. It is a network of grassroots organisations, activists, trade unions, and civil society groups committed to ensuring that access to clean, affordable water remains a fundamental right across the continent.
OWORAC’s mission is to resist water privatisation in Africa and promote community-driven, public water management systems. It empowers communities to advocate for transparency, accountability, and fair access to water, challenging profit-driven policies.
OWORAC leads campaigns at local, national, and international levels, focusing on keeping water under public control, opposing market-driven policies, and raising awareness of the harmful impacts of water privatisation.
OWORAC works directly with African communities through town halls, workshops, and the annual Africa Week of Action Against Water Privatisation. It helps communities organise and engage with policymakers to push for water justice.
OWORAC envisions an Africa where everyone has equitable access to clean and affordable water, free from privatisation and corporate exploitation. Its goal is to end water poverty and ensure water remains a public good for all Africans.
Senegal & West Africa
