Good news for Empresa d’Água e Eletricidade (EMAE). The national electricity and water company of São Tomé and Príncipe is receiving €14 million in financing in the form of an €8.44 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB), as well as a €5.56 million investment grant from the European Union (EU).
The funding confirmed at the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) held in Doha, Qatar, from 5 to 8 March 2023, is intended to strengthen the drinking water network on the island of São Tomé, the capital of this island state in Central Africa. The funding “will help São Tomé improve its water infrastructure and increase its resilience to climate change. I am particularly pleased with its impact on health and women, as access to clean water promotes other fundamental rights,” said Jutta Urpilainen, EU commissioner for international partnerships.
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The project to be undertaken by the public company EMAE will improve the current level of service while providing access to drinking water for 25,000 people in the capital of São Tomé and Príncipe. “Three out of four people on the island of São Tomé will benefit from improved access to drinking water,” says the EIB. The EUR 14 million financing is provided under the Global Gateway strategy.
This new European strategy aims to mobilise up to €300 billion of public and private investment between 2021 and 2027 (of which €150 billion for Africa), “to support a sustainable global recovery, taking into account the needs of our partners and the EU’s own interests,” says the Brussels-based institution in Belgium.
Jean Marie Takouleu