The European Investment Bank, Europe’s long-term lending institution, has formally agreed to back a new water infrastructure investment scheme expected to transform access to clean water and sanitation around the southern shores of Lake Victoria.

It is expected that over 500,000 inhabitants of Mwanza, Bukoba and Musoma, as well as other communities around the Lake Victoria basin will benefit once the scheme is implemented.

Commenting on the funding, Pim van Ballekom, European Investment Bank Vice President said the European Investment Bank is committed to supporting crucial investment in water and sanitation around the world. The EIB is the world’s largest lender for water investment worldwide and last year provided EUR 10.5 billion for investment in a range of sectors across Africa.

The Bank is working alongside partners Agence Française de Développement, AfD and the EU through the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund, as well as the Tanzanian government .

Once complete 95% of the population of Mwanza will have access to clean drinking water and half the city’s inhabitants will benefit from improved sanitation. The transformational project will also create hundreds of jobs, both during implementation and when complete in 2019.

The EIB will provide EUR 45 million in a 20 year loan to the government of Tanzania. This will be matched by French Development Agency, AfD.  European financing will be alongside significant support from the government of Tanzania.

Project preparation and implementation will be supported by technical assistance totalling EUR 10 million. The technical assistance is provided by both the EIB and the European Union through the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund.

The European Investment Bank, Agence Française de Développement and Germany’s KfW are working together to support investment in key water infrastructure around Lake Victoria under the Mutual Reliance Initiative. This allows a single institution to act as the main point of contact with the project promoter. The European Investment Bank is in lead in Tanzania, Agence Française de Développement in Kenya and KfW in Uganda.