BANGLADESH

What’s the issue?

In the beautiful landscape of Bangladesh, where dynamic coastal areas and fertile Barind regions paint a diverse picture, the nation faces intricate water challenges. The delicate equilibrium between rising demand and diminishing water supply, exacerbated by pollution and over-exploitation, underscores the pressing need for comprehensive water solutions. This urgency is further underscored by climate change, which disproportionately affects coastal regions, posing formidable threats to water security.

Bangladesh faces a critical need for innovative financing solutions to address water management challenges, particularly in flood-prone areas. The country's vulnerability to flooding requires substantial investment in durable infrastructure, yet accessing appropriate funding remains a hurdle. While governmental and NGO-driven projects play a significant role, more financing is needed and the private sector's involvement remains limited despite its potential to bring diverse expertise and resources to the table. To bridge this gap, fostering effective public-private partnerships is essential for developing projects that combine expertise, resources, and innovation to tackle Bangladesh's complex water management issues.

Amidst this backdrop, the Resilient Water Accelerator (RWA) envisions a transformative journey for Bangladesh, aligning harmoniously with the nation's ambitious water strategy. By ushering in substantial investments in robust water infrastructure and services, the Accelerator aims to forge a resilient path forward. This trajectory holds the promise of not only alleviating water-related challenges but also fostering holistic and inclusive progress across the nation's varied landscapes.

What are we doing there?

In Bangladesh, the Resilient Water Accelerator aims to put water at the heart of climate and finance agenda. Our value proposition is to deliver speed, scale, and replicability by:

  • Crafting a dynamic platform that meticulously identifies and disseminates investment-worthy endeavors, thus cultivating a robust conduit for prospective backers from the echelons of International Financial Institutions (IFIs), private financiers, corporate conglomerates, and governmental entities. This converges an optimal blend of financial infusion, seamlessly harmonizing prudent commercial frameworks with enhancements in the ecosystem.

  • Spearheading comprehensive feasibility evaluations spanning an extensive spectrum, encompassing social, environmental, legal, and regulatory dimensions, as well as financial paradigms. These assessments ensure that projects resonate with investor needs whilst being anchored in sustainability.

  • Developing templates and shared resources to provide a springboard for action on resilient water. This would include creating aggregation structures for projects into sizeable deals that could be ready for long-term financing.

  • Curating a repository of investors, and consolidating pivotal data such as asset portfolios, focal domains, and investment criteria within the water sector. This database functions as a strategic compass, guiding strategic alignments between projects and potential patrons.

The outcomes will be:

  • Comprehensive programmes that target critical risks to water systems and deliver environmental gains, including carbon reduction, in a way which crowds in diverse sources of finance.

  • Confidence in replicating these investments at scale, through proof of concept and increased availability of data and improved capacity across governments, finance organisations and communities.

  • Improved climate resilience, water security, access to clean water and hygiene, and commercial viability of water investments.

Project Shortlist (subject to change)

  • Chattogram Sewerage Development

  • Safe Water Access in Water Stressed Areas

  • Restoration of river systems around Dhaka City with ecological restoration

  • Central Effluent Treatment Plant & Integrated SWM Facility

  • Scaling high-efficiency irrigation in drought-prone areas

Our Partners

  • ADB

  • Coca Cola

  • Deltares

  • DFDL

  • HSBC

  • IFAD

  • IFC

  • World Bank

  • WRG 2030

Contact Information

Mafruda Rahman

Country Strategy Manager (Bangladesh)

MafrudaRahman@wateraid.org

Kate Hughes

CEO - Resilient Water Accelerator

KateHughes@wateraid.org