Ines Magoum

The municipality of Pemba in Mozambique is seeking to improve the efficiency of its solid waste collection and transport, and is counting on the acquisition of new equipment to achieve this. The Japanese government is supporting this project with funding of $1 million.

In Namibia, the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) is launching the project to modernise and extend the Rundu drinking water system, six months after signing the execution contract with the Namibia Water Corporation (NamWater). The Chinese company will be supported by a loan of 665 million Namibian dollars (36 million US dollars) from the African Development Bank (AfDB).

As part of its vision to promote ecological development, the Swiss foundation Biovision is launching the first edition of its Agroecological Food Futures Prize in East Africa. Until 26 July 2024, the initiative will select three projects from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), focusing on the transition to more sustainable food systems.

Ivory Coast, faced with waste pollution, is focusing on the circular economy to gradually eradicate it. To support this approach, Ivory Coast's Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Adama Diawara, launched work on a world-class laboratory dedicated to the circular economy on 1 July 2024.

The town of Zarat in Tunisia has a new seawater desalination plant. Va Tech Wabag, an Indian company, built the plant, which will provide drinking water to around 1 million people in three governorates.

The Franco-Moroccan company Sand To Green has just installed a solar-powered seawater and brackish water desalination unit to speed up its regenerative agriculture project under way in the Guelmim-Oued Noun region of Morocco. The containerised system, supplied and installed by the French start-up Osmosun® through the Osmosun Maroc joint venture, produces 140 m3 of fresh water a day.

Underway since June 2019, work on phase 2 of the Mokolo Crocodile Water Augmentation Project (MCWAP-2A) is set to accelerate over the coming months in Lephalale, a municipality in the South African province of Limpopo, thanks to a R4.5 billion (around $250 million) loan from Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB). The Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) is carrying out the work.

African Day of Seas and Oceans, which is celebrated every 25 July, is an opportunity to remind people of the importance of the seas and oceans for the continent's development, provided they are protected. Professionals like SUEZ contribute to this on a daily basis, notably through innovative solutions for water and waste treatment, to prevent them from ending up in these coastal areas. The Group goes even further by providing tailor-made technical assistance and organising the transfer of know-how to ensure the sustainability of projects.

To mark African Day of Seas and Oceans, which is celebrated every 25 July, the AFRIK 21 editorial team, in partnership with the SUEZ group, is bringing you a series of articles and interviews on the challenges facing this sector, which is essential to sustainable growth in Africa.

As Africa promotes the sustainable growth of its seas and oceans on 25 July 2024, Zimbabwe is also determined to protect its shared water resources. This is the rationale behind its recent accession to the two global United Nations conventions on water, namely the Water Convention and the Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses.