The speaker stated that to attract private financing, the water sector must create enabling conditions, particularly "better regulatory frameworks and making utilities creditworthy." She emphasized that current public spending is less than 1% of GDP and that progress depends on "changing the sector governance" and "building up strong institutions." Private capital will not flow at scale into African water infrastructure until the utilities that operate it are reformed to be financially viable and accountable. Investment follows creditworthiness and stable regulation. WATCH because the sector's attractiveness and ability to close its funding gap are directly contingent on a complex, multi-year process of institutional reform and utility turnaround. Progress here is the prerequisite for capital deployment. Political will and execution capability to implement deep governance reforms and tariff adjustments may be insufficient, leaving utilities perpetually uncreditworthy.