The Centre for Water Innovation Namibia (C-WIN) was born out of a pressing national need and a deep personal conviction: that water challenges in Namibia and across arid regions of Africa require not only urgent action but innovative thinking. Namibia, the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, has long grappled with water scarcity, inequitable access, aging water infrastructure, and a limited capacity to translate research into practical solutions. Yet, amidst all these challenges is an opportunity to transform Namibia into a living laboratory for water innovation.

The idea for C-WIN took root in the mind of Gettie Shiinda, who recognized a critical gap between research findings, policy action and industry application. She witnessed how countless studies remained shelved, pilot projects unscaled, and local ingenuity overlooked due to fragmented efforts, underfunding, and weak institutional alignment. As the famous saying goes, an idea is only 10% the work, she then approached fellow young minds Michelle Hailonga, Oswald Mughongora and Shalongo Angula who were crazy enough to believe they too could change the world. Together, they laid the foundation for what is now known as C-WIN. The founding journey was not without obstacles.  Access to funding was limited, institutional buy-in was slow, and the path to establishing a non-profit in the water space, especially one that is focused on innovation, was unclear. Despite this, the team's unwavering belief that Namibia could lead the way in creating water solutions not just for itself  but for other arid and semi-arid countries facing similar struggles propelled them forward.

What began as a vision has now become a national movement. C-WIN today stands not only as a registered non-profit but as a rallying point for thinkers, doers, and dreamers who believe in the power of innovation to secure Namibia’s water future.

Our story is still unfolding, but our mission is clear: to make Namibia, Africa’s Water Innovation Testbed, one solution at a time.