The Rundu water system is to be revamped to serve two regions in Namibia

At a time when the Namibia Water Corporation (NamWater) drinking water system in Rundu is having difficulty meeting the needs of the population, the Namibian government is kicking off a project to modernise and extend this hydraulic system, which draws raw water from the Okavango River. The groundbreaking ceremony was held in the Namibian capital Windhoek, in the presence of officials from China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), the company responsible for carrying out the work. The company was appointed following a call for tenders, the results of which were announced in January 2024.

By launching this project, the government of the southern African country aims to improve water security in the Kavango East and Kavango West regions until 2037.

Financing from the AfDB

CCECC will build a new raw water collection and conveyance system, a new drinking water station at Rundu, located in the capital of the East Kavango region in northern Namibia, with a capacity of 1,800 m³ per hour, as well as a storage reservoir and a distribution network. Namibia’s Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Carl Schlettwein, says that once modernised, the Rundu system will provide 36,000 m³ of drinking water per day to the local population.

Launched on 1 July 2024, the Chinese company will have 34 months to complete all the work, i.e. until the first half of 2027. CCECC will draw on funding of N$665 million (US$36 million) granted by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to the Namibian government in July 2023, under the Namibia Water Sector Support Programme. This ambitious programme aims to facilitate the sustainable production and transfer of water resources in order to improve access to drinking, agricultural and industrial water. It will also improve sanitation services in rural areas, as well as building institutional capacity for sustainable management of water resources in this country with its arid climate.