COUNTRY | Tunisia
REGION | Africa
SECTOR | water and waste
QII Principles | Principle 3 Environmental Considerations, Principle 5 Social Considerations, Principle 6 Infrastructure Governance
QII Sub-Principles | 3: Environmental Impact Assessment, 3: Environmental Impact Mitigation, 3: Climate, 5: Social Impact Assessment, 5: Capacity and institutional building, 5: Universal access to services, 5: Low-income groups, 6: Growth & development strategies
Overview
The Small Cities Sanitation Programme is a EUR 150 million programme undertaken by the Office National de l’Assainissement, (“ONAS”, the Company”) to build 24 new wastewater treatment plants (“WWTP”) and rehabilitate and upgrade the sanitation network (including 862 kilometres of new primary and secondary networks and construction of 30 new pumping stations) to EU equivalent standards in 33 Tunisian cities of less than 10,000 inhabitants (the “Project”). EBRD’s EUR 75 million sovereign-guaranteed loan co-finances 50 per cent of the total investment cost of the Project and is provided alongside African Development Bank and the funding from the Government of Tunisia.
Relevance to QII
The Project aims to address Principal 3: Environmental Considerations and Principal 5: Social Considerations through improvement in wastewater services (construction of wastewater treatment plants and sewage network) and through Technical Cooperation (Environmental and Social Action Plan implementation support). Principal 6: Governance is addressed through support in capacity building and development of long-term strategic plan to promote sustainability of the ONAS's operations.
Benefits
The investment has important environmental and social benefits. The 33 small cities included in the Project were identified as priority locations by ONAS given their poor sanitation standards and the consequential health and hygiene risks to the communities and the harmful impact on the environment. The Project will improve wastewater services to an estimated 192,000 inhabitants and will help alleviate soil contamination and waterbody pollution in the concerned areas.
Tunisia is one of the countries most exposed to climate change in the Mediterranean region. The expected impacts of climate change include increased water stress and hydrological variability. By increasing the amount of treated wastewater by 7.71 million m3 per year, the Project will result in increased availability of useable raw water in the Project area.
The Project will also reinforce the Company’s governance through capacity building to engage efficiently with private sector and to define ONAS’ strategy for the next 20 years. The Company has been working to outsource the operations and management of some of its large WWTPs. ONAS is currently launching two pilot management contracts for the operation and maintenance (“O&M”) of existing assets and is structuring two Public Private Partnerships (“PPP”) for new WWTPs. The GoT requested EBRD to mobilise Technical Cooperation to support ONAS’s private sector participation programme, including training on monitoring and managing contracts with private sector partners. EBRD is also supporting ONAS in the development of its long term strategy. Technical Cooperation is being mobilised to help ONAS define its 2040 Strategic Business Plan, covering corporate development, operational management, investment planning, customer relationship management, and addressing the external and internal opportunities and challenges the Company faces.
Metrics
Volume of wastewater treated, targeted at 7.71 million m3/year two years after physical completion.
Signing of the O&M contracts with private sector counterparts.
2040 Strategic Business Plan approved.
Name of Institution
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Website URL