The coming months in Namibia’s water sector will be marked by the launch of water infrastructure construction projects. This follows parliament’s approval of the 2024/2025 national budget for the development of water projects in the southern African country, valued at 1 billion Namibian dollars, or just under 52.5 million US dollars.
The allocation for the water sector was unveiled by Namibia’s Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Calle Schlettwein, who said that “a sustainable and safe water supply, particularly on the coast, can only be achieved through the development of infrastructure that links all available viable freshwater resources into an integrated network of pipes, reservoirs, pumping stations, treatment plants, distribution networks and sanitation facilities”.
New water infrastructure under construction in Henties Bay
The new water funding in Namibia will be divided between several projects, with the aim of strengthening Namibia’s infrastructure potential to provide universal access to water for the population. According to the Namibian authorities, by 2022, around 99% of Namibians will already have access to drinking water in urban areas and 87% in rural areas. “Of the N$1 billion allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Agrarian Reform, 76% will be earmarked for infrastructure,” points out Calle Schlettwein.
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Among the projects that will be implemented thanks to this new budget envelope is the Henties Bay water supply improvement project, on which work began on 14 April 2024. The main project involves replacing 5 km of water supply pipes in Henties Bay, a coastal town in Namibia located in the heart of the Namibian desert, in the Erongo region. At the same time, Namibia’s Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Calle Schlettwein, also launched work on the third phase of the Kuiseb-Collector 2-Schwarzekuppe-Swakopmund pipeline replacement project, which stretches some 80 km. This part of the project will replace the 10 km section between collector 2 and collector 1, which is obsolete.
Inès Magoum