In Rwanda, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is approving loans of around $250 million to support the supply of drinking water and sanitation in the capital Kigali and surrounding towns. In particular, these loans will finance the modernisation of the Nzove 1 drinking water plant.
The Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Programme for Transformation can begin. On 1 December 2023 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved the Government of Rwanda’s request for financing. The East African country will receive exactly $249.5 million, split between a $199.5 million loan from the pan-African financial institution and $50 million from the Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF), a co-financing fund set up by the AfDB and the People’s Bank of China (PBC).
Phase I of the Programme is scheduled to begin in January 2024. The executing agencies, namely the Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC) and the Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWASA), will use the AfDB funding to launch rehabilitation work on the Nzove1 drinking water plant, located not far from the Rwandan capital Kigali.
Securing access to drinking water for almost 1.5 million people
The refurbishment of the Nzove 1 drinking water treatment plant, built in 2008, will enable the plant’s water production to be brought up to its nominal capacity of 40,000 m3 per day, compared with 13,000 m3 per day at present. This will improve the drinking water supply for an additional 227,000 people.
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The $249.5 million package will also enable Rwanda to build new drinking water networks in Nyaruguru-Huye-Gisagara, Mwange, Muhazi, Mugesera and Kivu Belt. “For example, the Nyaruguru-Huye-Gisagara drinking water supply network, whose water comes from the Akanyaru river in Nyaruguru district, will supply drinking water to the secondary town of Huye and the districts of Nyaruguru and Gisagara, in order to meet the current water demand of 30,316 m3 per day, which is expected to rise to 37,544 m3 per day by 2050, and serve 1,248,902 people”, says the AfDB.
Construction of 80 inclusive sanitation facilities
At the same time, WASAC and EWASA will build around 80 inclusive, climate-resistant public and community latrines in public schools, markets and health centres. Centres to promote on-site sanitation and treatment in public health facilities will also be created.
The aim is to reduce the shortage of wastewater treatment infrastructure by providing households with more opportunities to access improved sanitation services through the city-wide inclusive sanitation approach by December 2029, when the works will be completed and all the facilities commissioned. The Rwandan government will contribute $24.7 million to the financing of the Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation for Transformation Programme.
Inès Magoum
