LUSAKA, Zambia, 8 August 2024 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/-The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund granted on 17 July 2024 in Abidjan, a loan of US$13.2 million to Zambia to facilitate access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene for 460,000 people and strengthen innovative measures in the localities of Kabwe and Bauleni. The project will also strengthen the resilience of the beneficiary populations to the effects of climate change.
In addition to financing from the African Development Bank Group’s concessional lending window, the European Union, a strategic partner of the Bank Group, is supporting the project through a grant of $6.05 million from its Nexus Energy Program for Zambia, a transformational initiative under the Global Gateway Strategy.
“The project aims to improve access to and quality of water and sanitation services in Kabwe town (Central Zambia) and Bauleni township (Lusaka district), and increase the operational and financial efficiency of the water supply and sanitation companies in Lukanga (Central) and Lusaka, the capital,” explained Raubil Durowoju, Country Manager of the African Development Bank Group in Zambia.
The project includes the rehabilitation of the Mulungushi water treatment plant (water intake from the river, raw water pipeline) to restart the production of 37,500 cubic meters of drinking water per day. It also plans to improve and extend the water transport and distribution pipelines by more than 70 kilometers, and to build and equip five boreholes on the Kalulu (South-West) and Mukobeko (Centre) catchment areas. The project will use renewable energy technologies and introduce innovative measures, such as smart meters, to reduce operational costs by installing energy-efficient equipment in the water production and supply system.
The project will work with partners such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to strengthen the delivery of water, sanitation and hygiene services. It will also raise awareness among at least 10,000 people on integrated nutrition and hygiene, climate resilience, waste and water management.
The African Development Bank’s long history in the water sector in Zambia makes it a unique partner to support the Zambian government in implementing this project. The Bank has been supporting the water sector in Zambia since the late 1970s. Its first intervention in 1979 was the Five Provincial Centres Water and Sanitation Project, which aimed to improve water supply and sanitation in the southern towns of Choma, Kalomo, Livingstone and Monze. Since then, the Bank has supported a total of 14 projects to improve long-term water security and sanitation in Zambia.
Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of the African Development Bank.
Source : African Media Agency (AMA)
2024-08-08 10:14:57
#Zambia #people #access #water #sanitation #loan #million #dollars #African #Development #Fund #
