Why water and energy cannot be managed separately

For maximum economic value and efficient use of resources, water and energy cannot be managed separately. This was a sentiment shared by panel members at Enlit Africa 2026, under a discussion topic titled The Water-Energy Nexus: Taking Coordination Beyond Theory.

Sabine Dall’Omo, CEO of Siemens South Africa, said because tourism is such an important revenue earner for African countries, building their capacity to manage water and energy harmoniously will benefit them greatly.

“In this day and age such establishments are using prepaid water and electricity, which requires a good meter data management solution. In addition, you can look at investing heavily into water management, which will require investing into dam management to enable you to know what is happening at the dams, and how much water and electricity is used so that the dam is optimised and managed at any given point in time.”

She added that benefits can also be derived at the level of the individual consumer who gain the ability to know how much water and electricity they are using.

This will encourage efficient use of the scarce resources, as well as deal with the frustration of having to wait for the end of the month to review your bill and see how much water and electricity you are using or wasting.

“That’s the benefit of having the ability to view your usage in real time and pay immediately if you choose to. The ability to monitor on which days, or periods in the day, you use water and electricity mostly will create the opportunity to take steps to change your behaviour.

“So prepaid metres are very valuable. The smartness also comes from the fact that, instead of investing in a water metre and electricity metre separately, you can simply invest in one device that does both, which means you are optimising both your water system and electricity system for reduced resource consumption.”

Enlit Africa returns to the CTICC from 11 to 13 May in 2027

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Dall’Omo added that she is encouraged by the fact that utilities in Africa are showing an interest in such technologies. “What I find quite striking, specifically with The UK PACT [Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions], is that there is very keen support for South Africa.

“There is seed funding for projects available to identify exactly these opportunities, with a number of municipalities, including one is Johannesburg and another in Nelson Mandela Bay. So I’m really excited that as we try to figure all this out, the global community is supporting and helping us to really get going.”

Ramateu Monyokolo, Chairperson of the Association of Water and Sanitation Institutions of South Africa said less importance is often attached to water than electricity in the country as the latter is managed by one well-resourced, large state utility whereas water is managed through a decenralised system comprising regional and provincial water boards, each with their own individualised systems.

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“This is because historically water was not regarded as important. Similarly nobody paid any attention to water departments in municipalities, with very little money spent on upgrading systems and upskilling the people in the engineering departments. Actually we have just always been treated more like a stepchild.

“This essentially means we are being left behind because in other countries, like Egypt or even a region like the Middle East, water is taken seriously because they recognise that it is essential for economic activities.

“In the Middle East for instance the trend is for water and electricity to be under one ministry. This is important and makes sense because if, for example, you have a desalination plant and you happen to not have electricity, there is nothing to be desalinated.”

He added that this is unfortunate in a country like South Africa where the abundant freshwater resources are not being managed properly. “This means we are forced to rely on desalination, which makes things super expensive. And in the context of such a divided society, it’s very unfair to make it that pricey for the poorest.”

JP van der Merwe, Wesgro Chief Foreign Direct Investment Officer said that while there is appetite for funding water and electricity projects in the Global South by global financiers, a strong prerequisite is that they need to be secure enough for financial institutions to invest in or lend capital to.

“In very simple terms bankability is what do you buy and how are you going to pay for it, and how do the assumptions and fundamentals set up. What’s absolutely critical is collapsing silos.

“Firstly, at a policy level, is how the various departments interact. When we look at an application for funding we try to understand how the idea or business and its operations and its needs fit into a bigger system. We do not necessarily fund transactions, but we fund systems.

“So we need to understand the full system, as well as understanding the individual value chains within those systems and how they integrate, because that is fundamental to bankability. And it’s because we’ve become perfectly aware that there’s a deep interconnectedness.”

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Group Director of Sustainability at Virgin Group Darshana Myronidis added that generally Africa has well worked-out project applications, which she said helps with securing the funding.

“When we look at projects presented to us from the water sector, we’ve come across some really well-thought out, well assessed projects and we funded quite a few, especially when you look at the shift that some businesses are making from linear thinking to circularity thinking.

“For instance we have a dairy farmer based in Limpopo, an average region in South Africa where water is a challenge, who came to us for funding. They also have a waste station and they presented us with a biogas project that’s solving for energy, waste and water all in one.

Enlit Africa returns to the CTICC from 11 to 13 May in 2027

“The audits were done correctly, the data backed it up, the assumptions stacked up, and today it’s actually made that dairy farm far more competitive amongst its peers. The project also addresses the second important element, which is a big driver, that is sustainability, which happens to underpin all the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the philosophy behind them.”

She concluded that this is pertinent because sustainability has become a big driver in business. “Sustainability as a philosophy is how you manage your water, how you manage your waste, how you manage your energy. So for us those are the fundamentals when you’re looking at bankability. So if a project is not able to tick those boxes it becomes difficult to approve.” ESI