Title: GWPSA Executive Secretary
Head-Africa Coordination Unit
GWP Global Head–Climate Resilience
Country: South Africa
Institution: Global Water Partnership - Africa Coordination Unit
Email: alex.simalabwi@gwp.org
Alex Simalabwi is the Executive Secretary of the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa, Head of GWP Africa Coordination Unit and GWP’s Global Head for climate resilience. He reports to an Executive Board Chaired by His Excellency Jakaya Kikwete, former President of Tanzania.
He has over 20 years leadership experience at all levels. While at GWP HQ in Stockholm, Sweden, he conceived, developed the global water, climate development programme, GWP's largest programme, and led its implementation across 60 countries spanning four continents in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and Caribbean, mobilising over $50 million and leveraging over $1.2 billion in climate resilience water investments.
He has developed and collaborated with various UN agencies and funding agencies; UNFCCC, WMO, UNDP, FAO, UN Water, UNESCO, UNICEF, GCF, Adaptation Fund, GEF, World Bank, AfDB and others. He Co-Chaired the World Bank Expert Group for the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience, a $1.2 billion funding window of the $8.1 billion Climate Investment Funds. He worked closely with the UN High Level Panel on Water set up by UN Secretary General and World Bank President, comprising 11 Presidents from Australia, Bangladesh, Hungary, Jordan, South Africa, Mauritius, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Senegal, and Tajikistan. He designed and leads the Continental Africa Water Investment Programme that was noted by the UN-World Bank High Level Panel on Water and approved by Africa’s ministers of water, infrastructure, foreign affairs, and African Union Heads of States. AIP aims to leverage $30 billion investments by 2030.
He has advised more than 20 African countries and governments on the integration of water into economic national development, has published various reports on water, climate resilience and is the lead author of the report “Water Security for Development in Africa” and also led the development of the African Union strategic framework for water security and climate resilient development. He is graduate of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.