Cairo – Mubasher: The board of directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has given the greenlight for a EUR 109 million facility for improving sanitation coverage in rural areas in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Luxor.

The Integrated Rural Sanitation in Upper Egypt – Luxor (IRSUE-Luxor) project includes the development of sewage disposal and wasterwater treatment plants, with the aim of raising sanitation coverage to 55% from 6%, according to a statement on Tuesday.

The loan incudes a EUR 108 million loan from AfDB as well as a grant worth EUR 1 million from the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI), one of the AfDB's flagship initiatives.

Under the project, the bank will support the development of more than eight sewage networks and pump stations and two wastewater treatment plants in the desert areas of El Tod and El Keman El Matana, the bank’s director general for the North Africa region, Mohamed El Azizi, said.

The network will serve about 161,929 residents (22,000 households), while “the households in satellite villages that will not be covered by the sewer network will benefit from an improved onsite sanitation service, which involves sludge treatment in the wastewater treatment plants.”

This move will help the Egyptian government in its efforts to expand sanitation coverage to 60% throughout the country by 2030 from the current 34%.  

“As one of several initiatives supported by the African Development Bank in Egypt to optimise the use of the country’s water resources, this intervention will enable about 30,000 cubic metre (m3) per day of treated wastewater to be discharged into drainage and irrigation canals and will be re-used to enhance agricultural output.”