Namibia has secured N$2 billion loan from Germany to fund the construction and rehabilitation of key water and road infrastructure in the country.
On Tuesday, the Namibian government, NamWater, Roads Authority (RA) and the German Development Bank (KfW) signed a loan agreement to kickstart the projects to restore water and road infrastructure in the country.
At least N$746 million (€40 million) of the concessional loan will be channelled towards securing the Water Supply for the Central Area of Namibia through the construction of a second Direct Potable Reclamation Plant (DPR II).
DPR II is intended to be implemented by NamWater at the same time as upgrade works are carried out for the City of Windhoek’s wastewater treatment plants.
This will increase the amount of water that can be reused, allowing for up to 50% of Windhoek’s water supply to come from the two Direct Potable Reclamation Plants.
This highly innovative, resourceful and sustainable approach is not only unique in the Namibian context, but also worldwide.
A second concessional loan to the value of N$932 million (€50 million) was signed to support the Namibian Water Sector Support Programme (WSSP), to assist Namibia in the rehabilitation and upgrading of its extensive bulk water infrastructure.
As the water situation in Namibia is becoming increasingly precarious, the Namibian Government has developed an extensive list of priority water projects for the country.
This list is intended to help safeguard Namibia’s water resources and water infrastructure, both existing and new, and the financial support will focus on high priority projects as identified by the Namibian Government.
The projects will be carried out by NamWater as the project executing agency with the primary focus of projects being in the northern areas of Namibia as well as the central coastal area.
A concessional loan of N$373 million (€20 million) financed through KfW and funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development will be used for the rehabilitation and upgrading of the B2 Road section between Karibib and Usakos, and form part of the Trans-Kalahari Corridor and the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Road.
“This important road rehabilitation contributes to the economic objective of having a well-functioning and high-quality transport infrastructure connected to the most important local and regional markets as well as to the Port of Walvis Bay. The road will be upgraded to a 2 (plus) one (1) grade similar to [the] Okahandja-Karibib Road.”
“The stretch of 33km will be resurfaced and extended to allow for improved traffic flow and road safety. Construction works are planned to start in the second half of 2023.
“Roads Authority and KfW are particularly proud to include local companies in the construction, allowing Namibian SMEs to implement at least 25% of the contract amount. The contractors have been trained throughout the more than 30 years of cooperation in the transport sector between the two countries.”
To date, the construction of more than 1,800km of roads has been co-financed by the Federal Republic of Germany through KfW in close cooperation with the Namibian Government through the Roads Authority.
