Development finance institution African Development Bank’s (AfDB’s) board in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, announced last month that it had approved loans of over R4.7-billion to Rwanda, to improve the population’s access to water and sanitation services.

The announcement was made by AfDB in conjunction with the umbrella project Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF).

The Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Programme for Transformation, currently in Phase 1, will receive a loan of R3.77-billion from the bank, and another of about R9.46-million from the AGTF, a joint-financing fund created by the AfDB and the People’s Bank of China.

The Rwandan government will contribute R467-million towards funding the programme.

Implementation of the project is scheduled to last five years, from January 2024 to December 2029.

The programme aims to improve the population’s access to water supply and sanitation services and strengthen the management of water resources and the operational performance of water and sanitation service providers in the target areas.

It will also increase the Rwandan population’s resilience to climate change.

The programme’s four components provide for investments in water supply, as well as managing drainage basins, other investments in sanitation and programme management, as well as support for the sector.

The project will also support the management of a programme framework that will help investment planning.

Phase 1 of the programme is focused on infrastructure refurbishment at the Nzove water treatment plant, and the construction of water supply networks for Nyaruguru-Huye-Gisagara, Mwange, Muhazi, Mugesera and Kivu Belt, in Kigali.

The refurbishment of the Nzove 1 water treatment plant, built in 2008, will return water production to its nominal capacity of 40 000 m3 a day, compared with the current 13 000 m3 a day capacity, supplying drinking water to an additional 227 000 people.

The construction of a water supply network for Nyaruguru-Huye-Gisagara, with water drawn from the Akanyaru river in the Nyaruguru district, will supply drinking water to the secondary city of Huye and the districts of Nyaruguru and Gisagara, to satisfy the current demand for water of 30 316 m3 a day, which is set to reach 37 544 m3 a day by 2050, and serve over 1.2-million people.

The programmme will also contribute to reducing the shortage of wastewater infrastructure, offering households more opportunities to access improved sanitation services thanks to the citywide inclusive sanitation approach.

Investments will focus primarily on the construction of inclusive and climate-resilient sanitary facilities in public schools, markets and health centres – with about 80 latrines or public and community sanitary facilities being built – and on the creation of sanitation promotion centres and on site treatment in public sanitary facilities.

Several projects in the water sector in Rwanda receive support from AfDB, including the Sustainable and Resilient Water and Sanitation Programme, the Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Programme, the Muvumba Multipurpose Water Resources Development Programme and the Kigali Water Supply Project in the country’s capital.

The main expected outcomes include increased raw water storage and treatment capacity, improved sanitation services and sustainable raw water resources for water supply systems.

The programme is aligned with the AfDB’s Country Strategy Paper for Rwanda and its Ten-Year Strategy, as well as the “High 5” priority areas, particularly the ‘Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa’ goal.