Peter Woicke

In an article written for the International Herald Tribune, Peter Woicke writes, “There is a need to double the rate of investment in water and sanitation alone over the next decade, to about $30 billion per year, from a combination of public and private investors.” He goes on to argue, “Access to water should be considered a human right. But most of this progress in addressing this challenge will be achieved through more practical and less ideological means” . Years later, in an excerpt taken from the documentary “Thirst”, speaking at a conference Woicke suggests, “Somebody has to pay for water, ladies and gentlemen. Whether it’s the users of the future generations, that is the reality”.

Peter Woicke is a fierce advocate for the privatisation of water services and having held many senior posts in international business and development sectors over the past 30 years he has had a significant influence on the landscape of the private water market. As a managing director of the World Bank, a position he held from 1999-2005, he vehemently promoted the Bank’s position that water privatization be a condition for receiving the Bank’s resources . In addition to his role as a managing director of the World Bank Woicke was the former CEO of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) (1999-2005) – the private sector arm of the World Bank and the largest multilateral provider of loans and equity to the private sector . The IFC recommends that Third World loan recipients hand over public water utilities to the private sector whilst actively encouraging investors to invest in private sectors in these economies .

Woicke has held numerous influential private sector positions including chairperson of J.P Morgan Securities Asia and member of executive management group and board member of Anglo American – one of the world’s largest mining and natural resources groups, as well as board member of Plugpower Inc., Saudi Aramco, Raiffeisen International Holding and MTN Group.