[ad_1]
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved the work plan and budget of the African Water Facility for 2018. This initiative, adopted by the African Ministers of Water, proposes the mobilization water resources, monitoring of ongoing projects and capacity building of project implementation agencies. A 2018-2020 plan will be put in place to offer an additional tracking tool, the bank said in a statement. For the current year, 4 projects have been approved.
"The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved the work plan and budget of the African Water Facility for 2018," said the AfDB in a statement yesterday. The African Water Facility is an initiative of the African Council of Ministers of Water (AMCOW) in 2006 managed by the African Development Bank (AfDB). The objective of this initiative is to help African countries mobilize resources for the water and sanitation sector to help them implement the African Water Vision by 2025. To achieve this, the African Water Facility proposes solutions for resource mobilization, monitoring of ongoing projects and capacity building of project executing agencies. The ADB specifies that for the current year, 4 project approvals are planned worth 4 million euros and disbursements of about 8 million euros. It is also a question of starting the interventions of the African Investment Fund for Urban Sanitation, largely financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. A 2018-2020 plan will be put in place to provide an additional monitoring tool. In its communiqué, the AfDB says it is continuing to work with development partners to better align their respective activities with Africa's water priorities. The initiative has targeted certain priority areas such as gender equality, social justice, climate change, job creation and private sector participation. The administrative budget of the Facility, amounting to € 4.42 million, will be financed by its special fund of € 2,465 million and by the Bank for € 1.95 million. In 2016, Morocco had received a donation of nearly 81.5 million dirhams to be used to finance projects in rural El Borouj, Larache and Safi. "We are expecting several effects of these projects (…) We intend to create 230 jobs on all three sites, 2,500 with replication of the model to a dozen other areas (…) This pilot project will draw lessons for many countries in Africa where the maintenance of drinking water systems in rural areas is problematic, "said Mohamed El Azizi, director of the African Water Facility, said in the statement. The National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) contributes 1.2 million euros. This project should be rolled out over 50 months. Last June, a loan of 888.5 million dirhams to finance a project to improve the quality and service of drinking water in Morocco was approved in Abidjan by the ADB. This project aims to strengthen and secure the drinking water supply of several cities, including Bouznika, Ben Slimane, Youssoufia and Safi, and improve water quality in the Bouregreg system. In 1995, Morocco initiated a national program to extend water infrastructure in remote rural areas. Thanks to this program, the ratio of access to drinking water increased from 14% in 1995 to 94% in 2013. The issue of water resources in Africa has two contradictory aspects. At COP 23, Bonn in November 2017, it was recalled that Africa has more than 5,000 billion cubic meters of water in its groundwater, but that about 320 million people do not benefit from potable water. Bai Mass Taal, first executive secretary of the Council of African Ministers Responsible for Water, said: "The problem today in Africa is that we have water, but the people have no access because we do not have the necessary infrastructure and their implementation is expensive. When this infrastructure issue is settled, water will reach people. "
Alongside the African Water Facility, another initiative was launched: "Water for Africa". Led by the World Bank, the AfDB and the World Water Council, this initiative is one of the means to act against climate change in Africa where the arid and subtropical dry part should be the region where climate change will be most 2100. In addition, 47% of the African population experienced water stress in 2000 and could rise to 65% in 2025.
[ad_2]
Source link
