The East African Community (EAC), this week, signed a grant agreement worth US$108 million with the African Development Fund (AFD) to finance the second phase of the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Programme.

The agreement was signed by EAC Secretary General, Juma Mwapachu and James Opio-Omoding, the Officer-in-Charge of the African Development Bank (Kenya) at a ceremony held in Nairobi-Kenya.

According to a statement from the secretariat, the aim of the programme is to improve the health of communities in the Lake Victoria Basin, through the reversal of pollution of the lake by improving sanitation infrastructure.

"The signing is a historical milestone in the resource mobilisation endeavours of the EAC,” Mwapachu said.

The initiative seeks to develop the right balance between investments on water and sanitation infrastructure in secondary towns and capacity-building at the local and regional level as means to sustain programme benefits.

Opio-Omoding stressed that Phase II of the programme offers a unique opportunity for the five EAC Partner States to strengthen their cooperation and sharing of important experiences in safe water supplies and improved sanitation.

The programme will specifically improve water supply and sanitation infrastructure in selected towns through five components: water supply; hygiene and environmental sanitation; urban drainage improvement; capacity building and project management.

Fifteen secondary towns in the Lake Victoria Basin will directly benefit from the programme and these include Nyagatare, Kayonza and Nyanza in Rwanda; Geita, Sengerema and Nansio in Tanzania.

Others are Muyinga, Kayanza and Ngozi in Burundi; Kericho, Keroka and Isebania-Sirari cluster in Kenya and as well Mayuge, Ntungamo and the Buwama-Kayabwe-Bukakata cluster in Uganda.

Ends