3 February 2014: The African Water Facility (AWF) has granted €960,000 to the Executive Secretary of the Niger Basin Authority (NBA) in support of a programme for the preparation of infrastructure projects aimed at reducing natural resources depletion caused by climate change, and improving their management in order to increase agricultural production and community resilience.

The projects should benefit the nine member States of the NBA, whose population is estimated at 120 million.

The AWF grant is specifically targeted to the financing of preliminary studies for infrastructure projects and is intended to catalyze the necessary investment for their implementation through technical, economic, financial, environmental and social studies. The cost of implementing the projects prepared by these studies is estimated at €204 million.

Following the support granted by the AWF, the NBA and its member States will dispose of a portfolio of bankable projects that will complement the climate change adaptation activities carried out by the Authority and national governments. The infrastructure projects will aim to, inter alia: reverse the trend of land, water and ecosystem degradation; reduce river bank erosion; reduce loss of biodiversity and arable land; and promote hydroenergy use.

The project’s partners are: the West African Economic and Monetary Union (also known as UEMOA in French); the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA); and the governments of the member States of the Niger Basin Authority. The African Water Facility (AWF) is an initiative led by the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) to mobilize resources to finance water resources development activities in Africa. It is hosted and managed by the African Development Bank (AfDB). [AfDB Press Release (in French)] [AWF Website] [NBA Website] [ICA Website]