Middle East-Africa

From the Persian Gulf to the Cape of Good Hope, water scarcity and inadequate infrastructure has ravaged the region. While Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, along with the rest of region, fall almost exclusively into extreme baseline stressed conditions, South Africa’s Day Zero is a reminder of water supply risks to populations and industries. The GCC region, in particular, faces significant infrastructure gaps between wastewater volumes produced to collection (22%) and treatment capacity (36%). These gaps are poised to expand with the rapidly growing population growth in the region unless countries execute plans to invest heavily in wastewater collection networks and wastewater treatment capacity.

GCC countries—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE)—face a unique combination of water-related challenges that include a need for greenfield wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure and a need to expand alternative water supplies including water reuse. However, the region is taking proactive steps to address its water-related needs: