Togo wants to step up its efforts to provide drinking water for all by 2030. In 2024, the government plans to increase the annual budget allocated to drinking water projects in the West African country by 5.8%. It will therefore rise to 18 billion CFA francs, or around 27.5 million euros.
me 1 billion CFA francs (more than €1.5 million). This is the amount of the additional envelope that will be allocated to drinking water projects each year in Togo, an increase of 5.8%. The budget for the drinking water sector in the West African country will rise from the 17 billion CFA francs (around €26 million) indicated in the Supplementary Budget Act for 2023 to 18 billion CFA francs, or almost €27.5 million, in 2024.
This allocation, which is still provisional, is included in the 2024 finance law recently adopted by the Finance Committee of the Togolese National Assembly. For the Togolese government, the aim is to accelerate the drinking water supply projects underway in the country, with a view to achieving the sixth sustainable development goal (SDG6) by 2030.
Phase 3 of the Passco water project, which will benefit 200,000 people
Work on the third phase of the project to improve sanitary conditions in schools and rural areas (PASSCO) is the most recent to be launched in Togo (20 October 2023), by the Togolese Minister of State for Water and Village Hydraulics, Damehame Yark. The increase in the project portfolio will speed up the construction of 850 boreholes equipped with human-driven pumps. These facilities will serve rural primary schools, outlying healthcare units and nearby rural communities in the Savanes and Kara regions, benefiting more than 200,000 people by 2025.
Launched in 2018, the Infrastructure and Urban Development Project (PIDU) should also receive a financial boost in 2024. In August 2023, work began on two drinking water supply projects in the Savanes region. In Dapaong, a town with a population of 117,000, the work involves the construction of 45 km of drinking water network to serve 10 districts with a population of 2,400. In Nika-Est, the water supply system will consist of four boreholes. Water pumped from the water table will be stored in a 100 m3 water tower and distributed via 33 standpipes to more than 5,000 people.
The other project that could benefit from the funding announced by the Togolese government this year in the water sector is the Urban Water Security Project in Togo (PASH-MUT), which will soon be rolled out in three components.
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The first component of the PASH-MUT aims to improve access to drinking water supply services in Greater Lomé, through the construction and rehabilitation of water production and treatment systems (boreholes, pumping stations and drinking water treatment plants), the construction and rehabilitation of water storage facilities, the rehabilitation, replacement and extension of water transport and distribution systems, and the supervision of works.
The second component of the project will enhance the operational efficiency and capacity of Togolaise des Eaux (TdE), focusing on reducing water losses and strengthening customer relations.
In its third component, the project will focus on improving access to water supply, hygiene and sanitation facilities for schools and health centres in Greater Lomé, and will include Wash (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) awareness campaigns. This part of the project will also improve the management of faecal sludge through the construction of dedicated plants, thereby reducing the potential impact of health threats linked to water-borne diseases on vulnerable people such as children and hospital patients.
Inès Magoum
