WASHINGTON – June 2, 2009. The World Bank’s Board of Directors today approved an Emergency Infrastructure and Electricity Rehabilitation Project (PURISE) for the Republic of Togo. PURISE is funded by a grant totaling US$26.82 million (approximately CFAF 13.5 billion), US$25 million of which is being provided by the World Bank and US$1.82 million, by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). This project is included in the operations identified in the Interim Strategy Note prepared by the World Bank in May 2008.
The project will support the Togolese Government with the rehabilitation, restoration, improvement of urban infrastructure, and expansion of access to infrastructure services by the population of the city of Lomé. The project was designed to be executed in an emergency situation with a view to: (i) improving urban mobility and access to the outlying areas of Lomé; (ii) reducing the number of households that are victims of repeated annual flooding; (iii) enhancing the effectiveness of the power distribution system; (iv) increasing the capacity of the municipality of Lomé to manage urban services; and (v) creating temporary employment for unskilled workers.
PURISE has the following two main components:
Infrastructure Rehabilitation (US$22.82 million or approximately CFAF 11.5 billion) — This component is composed of four sub-components, namely:
- Rehabilitation of the drainage network (US$9 million or approximately CFAF 4.5 billion). Specifically, this sub-component entails: (i) cleaning roughly 42 kilometers of existing gutters in the city of Lomé; (ii) rehabilitating approximately 8 kilometers of drainage network and building new gutters using highly labor intensive techniques; (iii) rehabilitating the infrastructure running crosswise and lengthwise in the secondary network emptying in the Lomé lagoon; and (iv) building 4 rainwater catchment basins, closing them off, and equipping one basin with a pumping station.
- Rehabilitation of urban roads (US$5 million or approximately CFAF 2.5 billion). This sub-component is intended to repair approximately 5 kilometers of primary and secondary roads in the city of Lomé, with a view to increasing access to a number of remote communities in the city, in particular the communities of Adakpamé, Zorro Bar, Adidogomé, Totsi, and Adidoade by: (i) doing spot repairs and reinforcing basic infrastructure, filling and paving roads, as well as rehabilitating the drainage system and the crossing infrastructure along these roads; and (ii) building a bridge to expand an existing road currently impeding the flow of traffic.
- Drinking water supply (US$4 million or approximately CFAF 2 billion). Under this sub-component, the project will increase access by, and improve the quality of drinking water services to, the populations in a number of periurban areas that are not currently being served by the national water company [Société Togolaise des Eaux TdE]. This will be achieved through: (i) the construction of approximately 15 borewells equipped with solar panels; (ii) the connection of selected communities to the mini water systems put in place; and (iii) the installation of 60 water kiosks and standpipes.
- Rehabilitation of the power distribution network (US$4.82 million or approximately CFAF 2.5 billion, US$1.82 million of which is being provided by GEF). This last sub-component of Component A will contribute to: (i) the rehabilitation of 20 medium-voltage (MV) or low-voltage (LV) transformer stations; (ii) the rehabilitation of the distribution network to support acceptable load levels; and (iii) the installation of fault detectors on the power distribution network. The contribution from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) will be used to: (i) install at least 400,000 compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) to replace incandescent light bulbs currently in use; (ii) organize outreach and awareness-building campaigns to promote an energy efficiency culture; and (iii) introduce a regulatory and quality control mechanism in the national distribution market for CFLs.
Institutional Strengthening (US$4 million or approximately CFAF 2 billion) — The project’s second component seeks to build the capacity of institutions involved in the management and implementation of the project, namely, the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, the General Directorate for Water and Sanitation [Direction Générale de l’Eau et de l’Assainissement], AGETUR-Togo (the project’s executing agency), the municipality of Lomé, the CEET (Togo Electric Company), and the TdE. Activities will include technical assistance and the strengthening of oversight and monitoring and evaluation by: (i) providing equipment and logistical support to the institutions involved in the implementation of the project; (ii) strengthening skills in the area of oversight, monitoring and evaluation, and communications, as well as the functions of the Technical Secretariat for implementation of the project; and (iii) training the staff of the institutions involved in the implementation of the project, especially in the area of financial management, procurement, monitoring and evaluation, and environmental and social safeguards.
On the occasion of this approval of PURISE, Joseph Baah-Dwomoh, the World Bank’s Country Manager for Togo, stated that “PURISE is the second infrastructure project selected in the context of the World Bank’s Interim Strategy Note for Togo to be approved by our Board of Directors. Initially to be financed by a US$12 million grant, we are pleased to have ultimately been able to mobilize twice that amount, thereby allowing us to provide more resources to help find sustainable solutions to the serious infrastructure problem facing Lomé. It is equally important to note that this new project is one of several projects being carried out by other donors in this area, namely, inter alia, the French Development Agency (AFD), the West African Development Bank (BOAD), the European Commission (EC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and KfW (German Cooperation Agency).” The Country Manager also called on the Togolese authorities to quickly fulfill the implementation requirements in order to ensure the timely launch of the project, in an effort to meet the expectations of the populations.
It should be noted that KfW concluded an agreement with the Government to cofinance the “rehabilitation of urban roads” component of PURISE for approximately EUR 13 million.
