ABS II: SECTOR BUDGET SUPPORT FOR WATER AND SANITATION

Making water, sanitation and hygiene accessible to the people of Burkina Faso

Access to water and sanitation remains a luxury for many Burkinabe. Both in cities and in the countryside, a part of the population remains deprived of drinking water or adequate sanitation facilities. In 2018, the access rate to drinking water was 74% throughout the country, with a disparity between urban and rural areas. Indeed, the access rate to drinking water was 91% in urban areas compared to 67% in rural areas. At the same time, only 22% of Burkina Faso families had access to sanitation. This low level of family access to sanitation is much more precarious in rural areas where only 16.4% of families had access to sanitation.

It is against this background that the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) decided to support the State of Burkina Faso through the German Financial Cooperation (KFW) in the effort to improve access to water and sanitation to populations living in both urban and rural areas. This support took the form of a project called “ABS II: Sector Budget Support for Water and Sanitation”. Through ABS II, a grant of EUR 18 million is being used to support Burkina Faso’s Water and Sanitation Policy for a period of three years (2018-2020). In this sense, the achievements of ABS II cover the 13 regions of Burkina Faso with a focus on fragile areas (Sahel, North, North Central, East, East Central, Boucle Du Mouhoun).

Support for the national water and sanitation policy

ABS II materialised on 26 June 2018 through a funding agreement between the State of Burkina Faso and the KFW. Thus, for the year 2018, a first grant of EUR 6 million has been transferred to Burkina Faso’s state budget. The following year (2019), an additional grant of EUR 5 million was made available to Burkina Faso. In December 2019, the German Financial Cooperation (KFW) mobilised a total amount of EUR 11 million for the Ministry of Water and Sanitation (MEA) of Burkina Faso. Thus, KFW financially contributed to the achievement of the objectives of the various policies and programmes, namely: the national water policy, the national drinking water supply programme, the national wastewater treatment programme and the governance programme for the water and sanitation sector.

ABS II is also an integral part of the Emergency Development Programme (EDP) of the Sahel Alliance which is a response to the request of the G5 Sahel countries under the Priority Investment Programme (PIP). It complements other budget support to the MEA such as that of the European Union or the State of Burkina Faso.

For the year 2019, ABS II contributed alongside other support in the water and sanitation sector (EU and the Burkinabe State) to the construction and rehabilitation of several infrastructures in the fragile areas of Burkina Faso :

• 302 boreholes drilled;
• 172 boreholes rehabilitated;
• 10 Simplified drinking water supply (AEPS) carried out;
• 10 Simplified drinking water supply systems rehabilitated;
• 6 095 family latrines built;
• 2 352 domestic cesspools constructed.

It should be noted that ABS II is the continuation of ABS I, a funding of 7 million euros with a duration of three years, which should end in 2020.