With the 23rd edition of the African Cup of Nations (CAN 2023) to be held in Ivory Coast in 2023, the people of San Pedro could have regular access to drinking water. The city benefits from a project aimed at strengthening the supply of drinking water to the host cities of this competition.
In Ivory Coast, the organization of the 23rd edition of the African Cup of Nations (CAN 2023) is taking shape. A year before the tournament, the authorities of this West African country are planning to strengthen the water production capacity of the tournament’s host sites, such as San Pedro, a seaside town of 164,000 inhabitants. The city located in the southwest of Côte d’Ivoire has been selected to host the matches of the final phase of the event.
“The drinking water deficit in the city of San Pedro is 500 m3 per day and the needs of the CAN are 400 m3 per day, which is an estimated need of 900 m3 per day,” said Laurent Tchagba, the Ivorian Minister of Hydraulics. To this end, the project to strengthen the supply of drinking water to the host cities of the 2023 African Cup of Nations will receive technical support from ONEP (National Drinking Water Office) and the French group Veolia.
The Ivorian authorities indicate that the work will target several other cities in the country such as Abidjan. The economic capital is currently benefiting from several projects under the “Water for All” program.
Abidjan fully connected to the network for the CAN?
The Ivorian government’s plan for water supply in the run-up to the CAN is being implemented at the same time as the project to improve the technical and financial performance of the drinking water sector (APTF) is underway in the country. This initiative is part of the “Water for All” program. To date, the program has already connected 155 neighborhoods in the capital Abidjan to the drinking water network, thanks to work carried out by the Société de distribution d’eau de la Côte d’Ivoire (SODECI), the public utility company owned by the Ivorian government and the French group Bouygues.
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The second part of the project, which is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2022, will require an investment of 182 billion CFA francs (277.4 million euros) and will allow for the installation of 800 km of distribution network in the 13 councils of the autonomous district of Abidjan. This second phase of work should be completed in 2023, and will provide an additional 30,000 m3 of water to the Autonomous District of Abidjan’s network.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi
