ADF to finance Senegal water and sanitation project

The African Development Fund (ADF) has approved a XOF18.74bn ($39.3m) loan and grant to finance the Water and Sanitation Sector Project (PSEA) of Senegal.

The project is expected to improve the drinking water supply and sanitation (DWSS) access rate and will reduce malaria and diarrhoeal diseases by half, while reducing health-related expenses.

Launched by Senegal in 2005 as part of the Millennium Drinking Water and Sanitation Programme (PEPAM), the project consists of a rural component which has been designed to improve access to drinking water supply and sanitation for residents in the Louga, Kaffrine and Tambacounda regions.

It also comprises an urban component to rehabilitate and extend the sanitation networks of Dakar and Ziguinchor, which will benefit an estimated 250,000 people, 52% of which are women.

The project will be implemented in four years. It is in line with the objectives of Senegal’s Economic Emergence Plan (PSE), and is also consistent with the ADF’s intervention strategy in the country and with its ten-year strategy (2013-2022) and its new gender strategy (2014-2018).

The project will result in the creation of around 5,000 temporary jobs and 500 permanent jobs, of which 2,500 will be allocated for women and 300 for youth.

It also aims to improve the sector’s governance by establishing a suitable monitoring and evaluation mechanism, implementing the action plan for integrated water resources management, and supporting privatised management of drinking water facilities in rural areas.