French company Vergnet Hydro will be carrying out the conversion of at least one thousand manual or human-powered pumps into solar pumps in Ivory Coast. This EUR 26 million project will be implemented in four regions of the country.
In order to provide people with access to clean drinking water, these human-powered pumps will be converted into solar pumps in the regions of Agneby Tiassa, La Mé, Lôh Djiboua, and Sud-Comoé, all in the southern part of the country. The project will be financed by the Ivorian government, and to be carried out by the Vignet Hydro via its local subsidiary Saher.
According to Laurent Tchagba, the Ivorian Minister of Hydraulics, the project initiated in March this year has an execution rate of 15% and will be completed by March 2023. This project will reduce the hardship of pumping water for women and children in the country’s rural areas.
The project aims to rehabilitate and modernize 1,000 existing water points in localities of 500-2,000 inhabitants in order to secure the water supply by improving the quality of service. More than 5 lakh people will benefit from the improved drinking water services.
The preliminary work undertaken by Vergnet Hydro is to convert and rehabilitate one thousand water points with hybrid solar pumps. The work involves blowing out, cleaning, and checking each borehole. Each installation will be equipped with a solar as well as a manual pump, tank, taps, pipes, cables, and other related equipment.
Ivory Coast’s 2016-2020 National Development Plan (NDP) included access to drinking water as one of its priorities. The country has set a goal of achieving 100% coverage by 2030, along with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Many projects, including the one implemented by Vergnet Hydro, have been carried out through the “Water for All” program.
