Ivory Coast's Council of Ministers has just passed a law authorising a loan of 22.3 billion CFA francs (around €34 million) from the African Development Bank (BOAD) for the construction of a new drinking water plant on the Aghien lagoon. Work has been underway since the end of 2023.
On 12 June 2024, Ivory Coast’s Council of Ministers passed a law ratifying a loan agreement worth 22.3 billion CFA francs (around 34 million euros), while work was underway on the project to make water drinkable from the Aghien lagoon, Ivory Coast’s largest freshwater reserve, located 73 km south-east of Abidjan. The agreement, signed on 11 April between the West African Development Bank (BOAD) and the Republic of Ivory Coast, will be used to “partially finance the project to supply drinking water to the city of Abidjan through the construction of a water treatment plant on the Aghien lagoon and an associated distribution network”, according to the West African country’s government.
As a result, the project launched at the end of 2023 is set to receive a boost. The work carried out by Fluence Corporation is expected to produce an additional 150,000 m3 of drinking water per day, provide 10,000 m3 of additional storage capacity in the city of Abidjan, lay 21.6 km of drinking water supply and distribution pipes, and connect the treatment plant to the national power grid by building three 17.5 km medium-voltage power lines.
At least 2 million beneficiaries
The water treatment scheme is as follows: “Bouaké Fofana, Ivory Coast’s Minister of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, said in February 2024 during an inspection visit to the works site that he was satisfied with the state of execution and progress of the physical works, which stood at around 95%.
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Overall, the 150,000 m3 produced daily by the drinking water plant will serve more than 2 million people in the district of Abidjan, particularly in the communes of Cocody, Bingerville, Abobo, Adjamé, Attecoubé, Yopougon and Plateau.
In all, the project will require funding of around 140 billion CFA francs, or just over €213 million.
The Aghien lagoon water table is currently used by nine drinking water plants. They produce around 120 million m3 of water each year, not including private boreholes. This capacity is set to increase with the new plant, taking into account the maximum volume of water that can be abstracted, without endangering the aquifer, which is 130 million m3 per year, less than the drinking water needs of the city of Abidjan, estimated at 170 million m3 in 2019.
Inès Magoum
