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This second phase will enable a further 45,000 people to be connected to the drinking water supply network
Tunisia - The German Development Bank (KfW), acting on behalf of the German Federal Government, granted Tunisia a donation worth €78.8 million (about TND 261.2 million) to help devise programmes aimed at improving the rate of drinking water supply in rural areas, encouraging the financing of renewable energy projects and guaranteeing better traceability, efficiency and transparency of public finances.
The grant was covered by financing agreements signed on Wednesday by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad Mohamed Ali Nafti and KfW Management Committee member Andrea Hauser.
It forms part of the bilateral cooperation between Tunisia and Germany, announced KfW in a press release published on Wednesday.
A donation of €27 million was granted to the Société Nationale dExploitation et de Distribution des Eaux (SONEDE) to improve the level of drinking water supply in rural areas of the Beja governorate.
This funding is in addition to the initial funding that has helped to connect some 32,000 people for the first time in their lives to a safe, continuous and good quality drinking water supply network.
This second phase will enable a further 45,000 people to be connected to the drinking water supply network.
In addition to the contribution from German financial cooperation and the counterpart from the Tunisian State, a grant from the European Union (EU) is being considered for this project.
As for the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries, a donation of €1.3 million was provided to finance geological, geotechnical and engineering studies of the water transfer system from the Barbara dam to the BouHertma dam as part of the programme to improve the storage, transfer and flood protection system.
In the financial sector, €40 million in donations were granted to the Ministry of Finance to modernise the management of public finances, and €10.5 million to the Ministry of the Economy and Planning to fund its participation in the capital of African Trade & Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI).
This participation will help Tunisia, among other things, access the Regional Liquidity Support Facility (RLSF), an ATIDI guarantee mechanism to foster investment in renewable energy in Tunisia.
These programmes add to the long list of projects in various sectors that are part of the technical and financial cooperation between Tunisia and Germany that dates back to the 1960s.
"Under Tunisian-German cooperation, we are pooling our efforts to improve living conditions and create prospects for the future, notably for women and young people," said Germanys ambassador in Tunis Elisabeth Wolbers, quoted by the same source.
"The financing agreements signed today reinforce this close and long-standing collaboration, based on mutual interests," she pointed out.
"We are working towards inclusive development for the benefit of all," she added.
‘The projects signed today show the wide scope of German financial cooperation with Tunisia, aimed at supporting reforms, infrastructure and financial systems in order to achieve sustainable, socially equitable and environmentally friendly economic growth,’ said Resident Director of KfWs Office in Tunisia Jörg Dux. |
