ACE Water Network Unveils Strategic Blueprint for Sustainable Excellence

Reflecting on best practices and learning lessons has been central to the ACE initiative’s success. Throughout its implementation, the programme has provided forums through its regional workshops among other key events, for centres across agriculture, health, water, education, energy and other critical themes to exchange knowledge, leverage each other’s expertise, adopt proven approaches, and continuously improve to advance Africa’s development. The ACE@10 Celebrations, held in Accra, Ghana, from 7^th to 9^th April 2025 offered yet another opportunity for participating centres to reflect on their achievements in translating research into impact, contributing to policy and industry, and cultivating partnerships with key stakeholders all geared towards sustainability.

The breakout session on Water convened representatives from eight water-focused ACE centres from West and East Africa. United by their commitment to translating research into practical solutions, these centres leveraged the session to refine key strategies that will support them to deliver tangible improvements in water management, bolster community well-being, and sustain their efforts across the continent, post the current funding phase of the project.

Aligning research with national priorities

A central theme running through the discussions at this session was the alignment of research undertaken by the centres with national priorities. As the project nears its conclusion, the imperative to ensure centers’ efforts continue to address real-world water-management challenges in the sub-region and directly respond to pressing policy and implementation gaps were highlighted. To enhance relevance and promote practical use of their research findings, the centres committed to adopting innovative approaches in communicating research outputs – leveraging policy briefs, clear infographics and short executive summaries that distill complex data into actionable recommendations policymakers and key stakeholders can readily understand.

Expanding Demand-Driven Professional Short Courses

Building on the ACE program’s achievement of training over 52,000 professionals over the past decade, participants showcased the significance of offering demand-driven short courses to amplify impact and underscored the need for this to be expanded. These industry-relevant offerings present an avenue to maximize impact, and therefore centers committed to continue tailoring curricula to local needs, scaling enrolment in these courses, and equipping industry practitioners with the skills needed to apply research findings to real world solutions.

Embracing a Nexus Vision to Strengthen Cross-Sector Partnerships

Recognizing water’s intrinsic connections to health, agriculture, energy and other sectors, the session explored a “One-Water” nexus model—mirroring One-Health approaches—to foster transdisciplinary research. Centers highlighted the need to strengthen ties not only within academia but also to bring industrial partners fully on board. The discussions highlighted the necessity of formalizing network structures, including governance around intellectual property and revenue-sharing, to ensure equitable partnerships. Industrial stakeholders were encouraged to join as full partners, bringing practical insights and co-funding opportunities.

Securing Sustainability

While the ACE Water centers have already achieved high standards of research excellence, sustaining the momentum requires more strategic planning and targeted initiatives. During the thematic breakout session, the eight participating centers identified a mix of strategies to secure long-term viability and these included:

• Endowment Funds: Seeded by center alumni, philanthropic donors, and host universities, endowments can underwrite core research costs and provide financial support for the centers.
• National Fundraising Drives: Leveraging high-profile events and public-sector partnerships to tap into domestic research budgets and health levies.
• Commercial Services & Innovations: Centres are to package high-quality laboratory diagnostics, training modules, and consultancy as revenue-generating service and ultimately turn cutting-edge work into self-sustaining enterprises.
• Regional Networking & Alumni Hubs: Cultivating a pan-African community and rotating secretariat roles among centres, the ACE network can maintain momentum, share best practices and jointly pursue larger grants.

By the close of the session, the involved centres had not only charted a roadmap for impactful research and robust networks but also renewed their commitment to a sustainable, nexus-oriented future for water management in Africa.