- Implementation Support Agency (ISA): European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
- Total project financing: $47.18 million
- Funding from GCFF: $1.95 million
- GCFF Financing Approval Date: 07/28/2016
- Project Closing Date: 12/15/2023
- % Disbursed: 40.3%
- Status: Under implementation
About the project
The project agreements (Loan and Grant) between EBRD, FCDO and Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI) were signed in December 2016. The EBRD-mobilized consultants to carry out the Feasibility Study completed their work in April 2017 following an extension to their contract to allow for the updated census figures.
Project Implementation Status
(As of December 31, 2022)
- EBRD secured funding from its donor program (SEMED Multi-Donor Account and the internal Shareholder Special Fund Community Resilience Window) to finance the Design, Implementation and Supervision consultant for the project.
- WAJ completed the procurement for the Tender and Implementation support consultants, utilizing the remaining funding from the EBRD’s SEMED Multi-Donor Account and the internal Shareholder Special Fund Community Resilience Window, on 27 March 2019 (the final CP for effectiveness).
- The environmental permit required from the Ministry of Environment was obtained in April 2019.
- The contract with the winning bidder, Arab Towers Contracting Company, was signed in September 2020. The winning bidder’s contract price was lower than the original expected project amount by circa USD 9.1 million. These project savings would remain as committed funds to the benefit of the project, to cover future variations in the project design or price of material if justified.
- The contractor carried out the detailed design works and commencement works on site in February 2021.
- Due to delays in agreeing on the technical specifications with the contractor, and due to the covid pandemic, the initial completion target date of September 2022 has been revised to November 2023. It is expected that the final disbursements will be made after the construction completion date, and therefore the funds availability has been extended until December 2023, based on a request that EBRD received from the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.
- Project construction progress reached 37.43% as of the end of November 2022 and is expected to reach completion in November 2023.
- In March 2021, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation suspended the project for 47 days, and then requested the contractor to resume the work. Due to this action by the Ministry, the contractor submitted a EUR 11.2 million claim to the Ministry to compensate for the price increase of material that occurred during the suspension period. The Ministry determined that the contractor is not entitled to a financial claim, but only to a time extension to compensate for the time during which the Ministry suspended the project. The Ministry refrained from sending out their decision officially to the contractor for over a year, but they ultimately did in November 2022. The contractor has not yet officially replied to the Ministry in that regard. EBRD has been closely following the development of the claim discussions and has encouraged the Ministry in numerous occasions to have an open dialogue with the contractor to reach an amicable settlement, however these efforts did not come to fruition yet. The Bank will respond at the time that MWI makes a contract change proposal to EBRD.
- As of December 2022, no additional funding was requested from the donors for this project.