The African Research Universities Alliance  (ARUA) is a network of universities from different countries and different historical backgrounds, but with a common vision. The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) is pursuing its goal of enhancing research and graduate training in member universities through a number of channels, including the setting up of Centres of Excellence (CoEs) to be hosted by member universities. The ARUA CoEs are intended to be focal points for aggregating world-class researchers from member universities to undertake collaborative research in priority thematic areas while providing opportunities for graduate students from the region and elsewhere to work with the researchers.

The ARUA Water CoE aims to be a centre for innovative and progressive research, which focuses on the African response to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Water plays a vital role in ensuring equitable, stable and productive societies and functional ecosystems. Hence, the United Nations recognised ensuring sustainable management of water and sanitation as one of the seventeen sustainable development goals (SDGs) (i.e. Goal 6) (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/). The CoE recognises that water is the key thread and catalyst to also realising the remaining sixteen SDGs in Africa.

The ARUA Water CoE Hub is based at Rhodes University and the CoE partners include Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia; Makerere University, Uganda; University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania;