The African Development Bank Group has committed €43 million to two new projects that will boost access to hygiene, water and sanitation and the resilience of vulnerable communities in Burkina Faso.
The projects, which the Burkinabe government launched on 21 November, include the Water and Sanitation Services Improvement Project for Resilience Building (PASEPA-2R), covering six regions with a population of more than 8 million.
The second project — Promote Hygiene, Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation, and Build the Population’s Resilience to Covid-19 and Climate Change in Rural Areas in Eight Provinces (PHEPA-8P) will improve health and livelihoods in the Centre-West, Centre-South and Central Plateau regions.
The Bank Group’s support comprises a grant and a concessional loan from the Transition Support Facility totalling €38 million and a €4.9 million grant from the African Water Facility. The Bank’s combined funding covers 86 percent of the total cost of the two projects, which is estimated at €51.6 million.
Burkina Faso’s Minister of Environment, Water and Sanitation launched the projects in Ipelcé, a rural municipality in the Centre-South region, as part of activities marking this year’s World Toilet Day.
The sanitation component of the two projects includes the construction of 13,500 family toilets and 700 latrines for vulnerable households, including internally displaced persons. The projects also provide for 600 toilet blocks in schools, health centres, markets, and bus stations, and 200 washhouses.
The water component covers the construction and modernisation of 60 potable water supply systems and associated infrastructure: 110 high-flow-rate boreholes, 20 climate-smart vegetable gardens, and 20 multipurpose platforms. These works will benefit 532,000 people over the short and medium term.
Both projects form part of the Burkinabe government’s vision of increasing universal drinking water and sanitation access by 2030.
Minister Roger Baro thanked Burkina Faso’s technical and financial partners for their support. He urged the project teams to ensure good quality infrastructure. He also called on authorities in the beneficiary regions to monitor the progress of the works.
Speaking on behalf of technical and financial partners, Daniel Ndoye, African Development Bank country manager in Burkina Faso, commended the government for launching the projects, focusing on fostering social cohesion.
The two projects will strengthen the impacts of the Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Project, launched in 2020 to improve 700,000 livelihoods, with 300,000 gaining access to potable water and 400,000 benefiting from a cleaner environment.
The African Development Bank’s active portfolio in Burkina Faso currently comprises 22 projects, with a total commitment of $794 million.