A major regional push to transform the future of southern Africa’s most vital water system is gaining momentum, as the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Zambezi Watercourse Commission officially launched a landmark investment initiative aimed at strengthening climate resilience, water security and livelihoods across the Zambezi River Basin.
According to a joint statement, the initiative, known as the Strategic Basin Investment Programme (SBIP), was formally introduced during an inception meeting that brought together key regional stakeholders, governments and development partners. The programme is expected to unlock multi-millio
n dollar investments to address pressing infrastructure and development needs across the basin.
Stretching across eight countries—Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe—the Zambezi River Basin supports more than 50 million people, where over two-thirds of the population depend on rain-fed agriculture and 44 % live below the poverty line.
ZAMCOM executive secretary Felix Ngamlagosi underscored the scale of ambition, revealing that implementing the Strategic Plan for the Zambezi Watercourse (2018–2040) will require an estimated US$28.3 billion, composed of 282 identified projects.
“This reflects both the scale of ambition and the opportunity before us,” he said, calling for innovative financing models, stronger partnerships and diversified funding sources to drive implementation.
The SBIP is designed to convert this extensive pipeline of projects into bankable investment opportunities, targeting critical gaps in water storage, irrigation systems, water supply infrastructure and hydropower development. Beyond infrastructure, the programme also aims to strengthen food systems, protect ecosystems and improve livelihoods across the basin.
Dumisani Mndzebele from the Southern African Development Community highlighted that the basin spans half of SADC’s 16 Member States, making its success pivotal to the region’s broader integration and development agenda.
“When ZAMCOM succeeds, nearly 50% of SADC’s integration agenda is already being realised,” he said, adding that the initiative’s Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems Nexus approach will support sustainable industrialisation and poverty reduction.
ZAMCOM Chair Alex George echoed this sentiment, describing the initiative as a “new beginning” with far-reaching implications for regional cooperation and development.
The FAO is playing a catalytic role in advancing the programme. FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa Patrice Talla said an initial US$250 000 injection through its Technical Cooperation Programme to support the development of the SBIP will be provided.
“While modest in size, this funding is designed to unlock significantly larger flows of public, private and climate finance,” Talla said, noting the growing urgency as climate variability, environmental degradation and socio-economic pressures intensify across the basin.
Anchored in both the Zambezi Strategic Plan and FAO’s broader development framework, the SBIP focuses on four key pillars: infrastructure investment, livelihood support, environmental protection and water resource management.
The inception meeting also drew participation from other transboundary river basin organisations across the SADC region, signalling strong interest in replicating similar models for sustainable resource management.
As climate risks escalate and development demands increase, the SBIP marks a critical step toward moving from planning to large-scale implementation—positioning the Zambezi River Basin as a focal point for transformative investment and regional resilience.
