Water in East Africa

  • Djibouti renewable water security

    DJIBOUTI CITY, 2015/12/26 Plans are taking shape to improve the provision of basic utilities in Djibouti, with renewables set to play a leading role. A major investment drive, which includes construction of a 45,000-cu-metre desalination and renewable energy plant in the capital city of Djibouti, forms part of the government’s bid to foster better self-sufficiency in terms of basic resources like power and water. Desalination solution The new desalination plant, referred to as the Project for Producing Safe Drinking Water with Renewable Energy (Production d’Eau Potable par Dessalement et Energie Renouvelable, PEPER), will cost around €46m, according to the National Office for Water and Sanitation of Djibouti (Office National de l’Eau et de l’Assainissement de Djibouti, ONEAD).
  • 540,000 Malawians,Clean Water By 2018

    MALAWI, 2015/09/15 Basic Water Needs, a Dutch manufacturer and marketer of household water treatment and safe storage products, has joined the Business Call to Action (BCtA), a world initiative supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other international organizations that encourages companies to fight poverty through innovative business models. As part of its commitment, Basic Water Needs plans to distribute its low-cost Tulip Table Top water filters to additional than 540,000 Malawians by 2018, making safe and clean drinking water additional available, easily accessible, and affordable. It's new assembly plant in Blantyre, Malawi's second major city, will provide full-time employment to ten women, and plans to train additional than 100 women entrepreneurs to sell Basic Water Needs products through their own shops and local networks. Basic Water Needs projects that the initiative will reduce CO2 emissions by additional than 150,000 tons.
  • Zambia Doesn't Hold 60% of Southern Africa's Freshwater, but 4.5%

    ZAMBIA, 2015/08/08 The claim that Zambia has 60% of the Southern African Development Community's freshwater is completely false. If Zambia has 60% of the freshwater in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), why does it import fish from China? Investment consultant, Fisho Mwale, reportedly referred to this at the same time as he made a presentation at a national enterprise conference in Lusaka last week. The claim that the landlocked country is home to 60% of the community's water has appeared before in a 2012 tweet, a press release by the Southern Africa Zambia chamber of commerce and an investment policy review by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Improvment(OECD). It is as well on the schedule for a conference about commercial farming in Africa to be held in October.
  • Malawi declared a state of disaster over persistent flooding.

    MALAWI, 2015/03/02 Aid agencies raced on Monday to reach tens of thousands of people displaced by catastrophic floods across southern Africa, as additional heavy rain was estimate in the coming days. Additional than 200 people have died in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar in one of the worst disasters to hit the region in years. Rivers have burst their banks, flooding vast areas and destroying homes, bridges and crops. "Next surveying the flooded districts from the air, we know that the scale of flooding is immense, and with the rains still falling, the water is unlikely to recede quickly," UNICEF's representative in Malawi, Mahimbo Mdoe, said in a statement.
  • Rwanda: Water Agency to Enforce Accountability Measures

    RWANDA, 2014/11/06 The Waterand Sanitation Corporation Ltd (Wasac) has developed a billing system that will be integrated with the management data system in use. The new measure, officials hope, will help curb financial and administrative shortcomings and ensure accountability at the utility regulator. Wasac chief executive James Sano said the development will help avoid shortcomings and cases of mismanagement that were highlighted in the 2012/13 Auditor-General's statement that faulted the defunct Energy Sanitation and Water Authority (EWSA) for various financial impropriety issues. Sano was speaking at a media conference in Kigali yesterday.
  • East Africa: Renaissance Dam Talks Kick Off in Khartoum

    EGYPT, 2014/08/31 The fourth round of tripartite talks over the building of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam started in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum on Monday. The talks, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, will involve discussions part Egypt's, Sudan's and Ethiopia's water ministers to reach agreement over criteria and mechanisms for building the dam. Egypt's Water and Irrigation Minister Hossam Moghazi stressed during the talks that Egypt was at no time against development within the Nile Basin nations, reported national-run news agency MENA.
  • Construction of Eight Water Reservoirs Underway in Eritrea

    ERITREA, 2014/06/06 The Agriculture Ministry's branch in Nakfa sub-zone, Northern Red Sea region, indicated that construction of a total of 8 water reservoirs is underway with a view to conference the water request in the locality. Mr. Jabera Mohammed Ali, chief of the branch office, disclosed that availability of such facility would solve the prevailing water shortage in the locality. In connection with a tour she made in the sub-zone, Ms. Tsigereda Woldegiorgis, Administrator of the region, pointed out that commendable efforts are being exerted towards securing additional water supply on the basis of construction of ponds and micro-dams.
  • Malawi will receive US $35.5 million to implement its Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Infrastructure

    MALAWI, 2014/05/06 Malawi will receive US $35.5 million to implement its Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Infrastructure for Improved Health and Livelihoods Project. The project is aligned with the Malawi Increase and Development Strategy and the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) 2013-2017 Country Strategy Paper inclunding the Bank’s Ten-Year strategy focusing on African transformation through inclusive and green increase. The money consists of an African Development Fund (ADF) loan of US $23.0 million, a loan of US $7.7 million from the Nigerian Trust Fund (NTF), and a grant of US $4.8 million from the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Facility.
  • $11 million for potable water in Djibouti

    DJIBOUTI CITY, 2014/05/06 Djibouti has received a US $11 million grant from the European Union (EU) to finance projects aimed at improving access to potable water. The East African country’s water crisis has been the result of extended droughts which have often led to water scarcity. The problem has been aggravated by rapid demographic increase, climate variability refugee inflow. There are presently plans to dig six boreholes equipped with solar panels in six different sites in the country.
  • Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will provide power to Egypt

    EGYPT, 2014/05/06 Ethiopian National Minister for Foreign Affairs Berhane Gebre-Christos told a two-day forum held at Bahr Dar University that the dam, which is being constructed to generate electricity, will not harm Egypt. Instead, it will allow Egypt, which has been suffering from electricity shortages, to obtain electricity from Ethiopia. Because of electricity shortages, Egypt has experienced several power cuts nationwide. The Egyptian government before announced plans to boost the country’s electricity supply by importing natural gas and diesel, inclunding by beginning construction on three new power plants.