Namibia - Namibia Water Sector Support Program (NWSSP) — Namibia

Overview

The Namibia Water Sector Support Program (NWSSP) will contribute to the goals of the Government’s Vision 2030, National Development Plan 5 (NDP5) and its Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP 2016- 2020). The Government of Namibia’s Vision 2030 and its NDP 5 (2017-2022) focus on improving the quality of life of the people of Namibia to the level of their counterparts in the developed world. The past few years have seen Namibia struggle with a national water crisis where the country is experiencing one of the worst droughts in 50 years. The 2018/19 rainy season, being one of the driest since 1981 in central and western parts of the region and the majority of the country only received 50% or less of average seasonal rainfall, which affected both rural and urban communities. The Program will address the needs of a critical sector that contributes to economic and social growth. The WSSP is designed to cover critical, urgent water supply infrastructure development and sanitation activities prioritised from various studies by the Technical Committee of Experts (TCE) supporting the Cabinet Committee on water established by Presidential order. It will address major infrastructure bottlenecks in the water sector. The program is to be implemented over 60 months beginning in January 2020 at a cost of ZAR 3.3 billion. The main expected outcomes include: (i) increased and sustained access to improved water supply, (ii) increased access to improved sanitation in rural areas and (iii) improved institutional capacity, sustainable management and utilization of water resources.