IN THE NEWS AfDB to consider $200m Rivers water project!!!! The African Development Bank (AfDB) board of di¬rectors will meet on March 26, 2014 to consider a possible approv¬al of $200 million financing for Rivers State water project. Ousmane Dore, director, Nigeria country office of AfDB, told BusinessDay that should the bank’s board of directors approve the project, and the loan be signed with¬out any unforeseen delays, the project should start run¬ning by September 2014, and be completed in mid-2019. The proposed project is specifically the “Urban Wa¬ter Sector Reform and Port-Harcourt Water Supply and Sanitation Project” which had been in the news lately!!!. Recall that the Rotimi administraion had accused the Federal Government of stopping the water project!! “Regarding the invest¬ment in Rivers State, the pro¬posed AfDB financing that is under consideration amounts to USD200 million….Follow¬ing negotiations last month, the project is programmed for our board consideration on March 26”, Dore confirmed in a mail to BusinessDay. Dore said there had been series of discussions and due diligence on the project with the latest being negotiations on key provisions of the loans between the bank and the borrower (Federal Government of Nigeria) on February 26, 2014. He said the bank finds this particular project viable, saying that through the project development process there had been recognition of the significant water sector reforms undertaken in Rivers State over the past few years as a sound basis for an investment project at this point in time. The project for the proposed bank’s funding support has two main components, the Port-Harcourt Water Supply and Sanitation which aims at providing sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation to the residents of Port-Harcourt city (Port- Harcourt and Obio/Akpor LGAs) in Rivers State. Rivers State government is providing counterpart funding of up to $48 million for the project. The second component is the Urban Water Sector Reform on federal level which will cover financing for the establishment of a National Urban Water and Sanitation investment programme, including national & state investment plans, appropriate financing mechanisms and the preparation of two feasible/bankable investment projects. Dore explained that the proposed project is a holistic intervention, covering the full water and sanitation cycle in order to ensure the benefits of clean water and improved sanitation are felt by the population of Port-Harcourt. It also includes infrastructure development, institutional support for best practice operations, and environmental hygiene and sanitation promotion for healthy living. “The bank is proud to be collaborating with the Nigerian authorities on this project and we are bringing to the table a combination of our comprehensive approach to sustainable service provision; capacity to mobilise the significant funding needed to make a tangible difference; experience from operations in Nigeria and its other regional member countries; and collaborative partnering with stakeholders in defining and implementing the project”, Dore also noted in the mail to BusinessDay. He explained that dialogue between the Federal Government, Rivers State government and AfDB on the water project started in 2012. He said that the Federal Government had addressed a funding request to the AfDB at the end of that year for the financing of an urban WSS project in Port-Harcourt, through the bank’s AfDB window!!!!!
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 11:42:35 +0000
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