The Sovereign Fund for Strategic Investments (FONSIS), acting on behalf of the Senegalese State, signed, on Thursday, a partnership agreement with the Chinese company Sinohydro for the construction of the ”first water highway” ‘ in Senegal, a major hydraulic investment intended to facilitate access for the populations of Touba (center), Dakar, Mbour and Thiès (west) to ”drinking water” and ”affordable costs”.
Sinohydro, specializing in the construction of dams, is responsible, under the contract, for implementing a “large water transfer” project, from Lake Guiers (north) to the Mbour-Dakar-Thiès triangle, which concentrates a large part of the country’s population.
Funding for the project will be provided by FONSIS, and the work will be completed by 2028, according to the National Water Company of Senegal (SONES).
The ”first water highway” expected from this project will improve access to this commodity, helping to make Senegalese agriculture more productive and ”resilient, in a context of climate change,” according to Alpha Ba , the Secretary of State in charge of Cooperatives and Peasant Management.
Once completed, this project will help diversify and modernize agriculture and ”support food security,” he assured during the signing of the partnership agreement.
The aim of the initiative is to supply water ”properly” to the populations of the cities of Touba, Mbour, Dakar and Thiès, said the general director of SONES, Abdoul Niang.
It will be up to FONSIS, according to its general director, Babacar Gning, to ensure the implementation of the project by mainly taking care of its financing.
It is for this reason that the Sovereign Fund for Strategic Investments chose the Chinese company. ”Sinohydro was selected for having presented a competitive financing offer”, in addition to its ”commitment to ensure rapid execution of the project, as quickly as possible, and to use local labor during its materialization , if the State of Senegal confirms the feasibility studies,” explained Mr. Gning.
The Chinese construction company is responsible for building a ”250 kilometer pipeline,” added the director general of FONSIS.
It was chosen on the basis of a ”transparent process”, argued the Minister of Hydraulics and Sanitation, Cheikh Tidiane Dièye.
“It is the only company that met all of the criteria” defined by the Senegalese authorities for the realization of this project, added Mr. Dièye while presiding over the signing ceremony of the partnership agreement.
He described the signing of the agreement for the construction of the ”first water highway” in Senegal as historic.
”The Ministry of Finance and Budget will spare no effort to carry out the project, in accordance with the recommendations of the President of the Republic,” assured Alioune Ndiaye, a technical advisor to the minister in charge of this department, Cheikh Diba.
The Senegalese authorities have made a “paradigm change” by favoring private capital over public financing for the construction of the “water highway”, said Mr. Ndiaye.
APS
