The Government of Rwanda and Metito have announced the financial close of the first competitively tendered Build Operate Transfer (BOT) water concession in Sub-Saharan Africa
The finalisation of this Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement spells the start of execution of the highly-anticipated Kigali Bulk Water Supply Project which will be located in Kanzenze, in the South-Eastern part of Kigali.
The project is expected to provide 40mn litres per day of fresh, clean and safe water to the residents of Rwanda’s capital city to serve domestic, commercial and industrial end users. The treated water will be extracted from the south bank of the Nyabarongo River and will supplement existing water supplies in a strategic move to meet Kigali’s growing water demands.
This project will be developed by Kigali Water Limited (KWL), a fully owned subsidiary of Metito. KWL will design, build, maintain and operate the treatment plant and will sell potable water to the Water and Sanitation Corporation of Rwanda (WASAC) under a 27-year PPP Agreement.
The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), a member of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), is the mandated lead arranger of the financing of this US$60.8 million project.
David White, Chairman of the EAIF, said, “The conclusion of the financing is tremendous news for Rwanda. Fresh, clean water has a fundamental role to play in economic development and water-dependent businesses like hotels, food processing and leisure, will have greater confidence in investing in Kigali.”
Mutaz Ghandour, Chairman and CEO of Metito, added, “The Kigali Bulk Surface Water Supply PPP project puts Rwanda on the map for the international investor community and marks a historic moment for Rwanda. Once complete, this will become an exemplar project for PPPs in the region.”
He added, “To undertake such capital-intensive infrastructure projects, the PPP scheme remains to be the best, and sometimes unavoidable, formula, and Metito acknowledges this. Our global growth strategy aims at expanding our presence in Africa, and augmenting Metito’s well established and tested operations in North, West and now East Africa, and this remarkable project here in Kigali is in line with this strategy.”
