One Million Rural Citizens Will Get Better Access to Drinking Water

The government of the Ivory Coast has launched the “drinking water” phase of its social program to grant access to potable water to almost one million citizens in rural areas by 2025.

A total of 2,200 new hydraulic installations will be installed in 17 of Ivory Coast’s 31 regions to boost the drinking water supply for 900,000 members of rural and semi-urban populations.

The first phase of the government’s Social Programme – or PSgouv 1 – occurred between 2019 and 2020. It saw the rehabilitation of 1,106 human-driven pumps and the maintenance of 10,639. The contract has been given to Saher, the local subsidiary of the French company Vergnet Hydro, which should deliver human-driven pumps by February 2025. The second phase – or PSgouv 2 – has a budget of $5.2 million to drill boreholes, but the programme goes beyond the drilling activity. Indeed, it is meant to combat fragility in the northern border areas, accelerate education, training, and professional integration, improve household living conditions, and strengthen solidarity.