The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announceed the appointment of Osward Mulenga Chanda as director, water development and sanitation department, with effect from 1 December 2021
Osward Mulenga Chanda, a Zambian national, joined the African Development Bank in 2009 as chief water and sanitation engineer. He was then appointed as Division Manager, Water Security and Sanitation, in the Water Development and Sanitation Department, where he managed a portfolio of over US$4.5bn across the continent.
Chanda brings nearly 30 years’ work experience in policy dialogue and investment programming, of which 20 have been at managerial level in water and sanitation investment project design, portfolio management, development finance, utility regulation, institutional reform, policy, and strategy development, for both public and private sector operations. He has vast experience in resource mobilisation for development, having raised over US$170mn (2020) from concessional environment and climate change funds and more than a billion dollars through co-financing.
Chanda has led the design and implementation of transformational projects at the Bank. They include the Egypt Sustainable Abu-Rawash Wastewater Treatment Project valued at US$150mn for the treatment of 500,000 cu/m per day of wastewater, preventing pollution of irrigation canals and promoting reuse; the Thwake Multipurpose Development Project (Kenya), worth US$362mn, for dam construction to generate 20MW power, supply water to benefit over 700,000 people and an irrigation scheme of 44,000ha; Water Provision in Marrakech Region (Morocco), worth US$178mn to serve over two million people; and the Ethiopia One WASH program valued at US$133mn, a sector-wide programme serving over five million people. Chanda has also led projects in Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tunisia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Senegal.
Commenting on the appointment, Dr Akinwumi A Adesina, president of the African Development Bank Group, said, “Osward is a seasoned water and sanitation expert who will lead the team and drive the Bank’s water development and sanitation work programs, in line with the Bank’s ongoing support to Africa’s economic transformation, through the identification and promotion of sustainable and integrated solutions across the water value chain and sanitation.”
