WASHINGTON, June 14, 2019 - The World Bank approved today an International Development Association (IDA)* grant in the amount of $75 million equivalent from its Crisis Response Window (CRW) as an additional financing to the Water Services and Institutional Support Project II currently in implementation. The funds will primarily be utilized in support of water related emergency recovery efforts from damages caused by cyclones Idai and Kenneth in the cities of Beira, Dondo, Tete, Moatize, Nampula, Quelimane, Mocuba and Nacala. These investments will potentially benefit an additional 130,000 people from the original beneficiaries under the Water Services and Institutional Support Project II.
“The damages caused by recent cyclone Idai have placed tremendous pressure on the existing water supply services, leaving thousands of households without adequate water supply, with adverse impacts on public health,” noted Mark Lundell, World Bank Country Director for Mozambique.
The project will fund water production and distribution infrastructure in the cyclone affected cities, including expansion and refurbishment of wellfields, intake, and water treatment facilities, network rehabilitation and expansion, as well as leakages control systems to optimize the water supply service provision. These investments will enable the government to provide services to large numbers of people in low-income brackets of the population in the largest urban areas by reconstructing part of the damaged water supply infrastructures by the cyclone Idai and Kenneth. These activities will increase water supply and reliability, as well as the country’s resilience to droughts and other extreme weather events.
“These cities have been badly affected by heavy rains and floods during cyclone Idai, damaging the existing wellfields and parts of the network,” noted Lizmara Kirchner, Senior Water Supply and Sanitation Specialist and the Bank’s Task Team Leader for the project. “The project will rehabilitate critical infrastructure damaged by cyclone Idai and restore the basic water supply services in the affected areas.”
The additional financing will also help leverage additional resources to finance the planned water supply investments in Nacala. This financing will cover 50 percent of project investment costs, with the other 50 percent to be financed by the Government of Netherlands under its DRIVE Program.
The project is part of the World Bank’s broader regional post cyclone recovery package which comprises a set of operations totaling some $700 million in IDA resources – including up to $545 million from the IDA CRW – to support cyclone response in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
* The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 75 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change to the 1.5 billion people who live in IDA countries. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 113 countries. Annual commitments have averaged about $18 billion over the last three years, with about 54 percent going to Africa.
