Zimbabwe witnessed a significant increase in the 2021 national water and sanitation budget, following SWA’s Finance Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) in 2020. The sector had originally expected a budget of ZWL$300 million for 2021/2022, so the announcement that it would be increased by two-thirds, to ZWL$ 500 million, was hailed as a big step towards better access to water and sanitation for the country.
The country’s Ministry of Finance is allocating the increased funds to develop a long-awaited information management system for the sector, to guide evidence-based planning and budgeting. The funds will also specifically support rural water supply programmes – particularly those focused on the development of solar-powered systems.
The Finance Ministers’ Meeting granted the sector’s long-standing wish to develop and set up a national financial tracking system. All credit goes to the Finance Ministers’ Handbook which helped lay the foundation for this engagement.
SWA’s FMM helped create the space and momentum for the budget increase. Held in November 2020, the meeting brought ministers and their sectors together, facilitating high-level ministerial engagement and conversations. Ministers from Zimbabwe were quick to realize how investment in water, sanitation and hygiene could be key to delivering the Government’s agenda of attaining an upper-middle-income economy status by 2030.
The sector established a financial tracking system for the sector following the FMM. The additional budget will support the system to develop faster. This will allow for targets to be set and monitored, resources to be better allocated in line with national priorities, and for partnerships to develop and strengthen.
The FMM also deepened the sector’s understanding of the role that the private sector can play in financing. Specifically, it showed how the private sector could play an essential role in financing big infrastructure investments – as well as providing potentially game-changing support and technical expertise for the national cholera elimination roadmap.