Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa water, Sanitation May-June2015 Vol. 10 No.3 | Page 9

NEWS in brief

Around Africa

African Development Bank (AfDB) Group
The project aims at achieving the Seychelles 2008-2030
Water Development Plan (SWDP) target supported by the
African Water Facility (AWF), which is hosted and managed
by AfDB. Currently, the country can only meet about 60%
of its potable water needs due to limited storage capacity,
increased demand for housing construction, and water
losses along the network.
Water shortages are common in Mahe, the Seychelles’
largest island, especially during the dry seasons when water
rationing is enforced. The project would: (a) Improve water
supply services through reduction of the number of days
when water is rationed; and (b) Increase water production
capacity to cover areas in the island’s northern region.

MRU) countries with fragile health and economic systems
and recent histories of civil war or political instability, and
caused severe development setbacks.
In launching this program, our two institutions
acknowledge that the Ebola virus outbreak has worsened
the limited human resources capacity situations in the
region. Closer harmonization of all aspects of our assistance
will help the countries implement their own post-Ebola
recovery programs and also allow them to tape into the
expertise that exist in our two institutions.

Global Environment Facility (GEF) supports
The project is anchored in the country’s Medium Term climate resilience in Uganda
National Development Strategy 2013-2017 (MTNDS).
The strategy focuses on strengthening the foundations
of economic growth; improving the quality of life; and
ensuring environmental sustainability.
It is in line with the Bank’s adjusted Seychelles 20112015 Country Strategy Paper (CSP), which focuses on
infrastructure development, concentrating solely on
the water infrastructure sub-sector. The CSP is keen on
enhancing the country’s water storage capacity, allowing it
to better respond to climatic variability and the increasing
water demand. It will also help to promote economic growth
by reducing overreliance on desalination and improving
social development by increasing access to water and
sanitation. The Bank’s intervention will also contribute to
greater diversification and competitiveness of the Seychelles
economy.
Direct beneficiaries of the project are the water users on
the island of Mahe whose demand is projected to increase
by 130% by 2030. Domestic, industrial and touristic use,
which currently accounts for 36%, 11 % and 5% of the total
water demand, are expected to increase by 140%, 400% and
190% respectively. The main impact of the project will be
the improvement in quality of life and reliability of water
services for household, industrial, commercial activities and
tourism, especially in the dry seasons.
The funding comprises US$ 20.60 million ADB loan and
US$ 1.40 million grant from the Middle Income Country
Technical Assistance Fund. The Seychelles government will
provide the remaining US$ 3.995 million.

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Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • May - June 2015

The African Development Bank Board approved an
additional financing of US $8.37 million (on March 4,
2015 from the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) Least
Developed Countries Fund (LDCF)[1] for the Water Supply
and Sanitation Programme (WSSP), already financed by
the Bank. The GEF financing will increase the resilience
of the natural environment and the physical infrastructure
of vulnerable drought and flood prone districts in Eastern
Uganda.
The programme is designed to build resilience in the face
of a changing climate and adverse weather conditions, in
particular increasingly frequent flooding conditions, thereby
enhancing economic, social and climate resilience. The
project will strengthen water and sanitation infrastructure –
the development of which is indispensable for consolidating
sustained and diversified growth in the region – and will
mainly focus on rural and peri-urban water development
support.
Reflecting projected climate changes in Uganda, and related
priorities identified in the country’s National Adaptation
Programme of Action (NAPA), ѡ