Ivory Coast: Germany’s Gauff to extend Abidjan’s wastewater treatment system

The government of Ivory Coast has chosen Gauff Engineering to improve the efficiency and extend the sewerage system in Abidjan. The German company will receive €178 million in funding to carry out all the work planned as part of this project.

The project for which Gauff Engineering has qualified is expected to improve sanitation services in Abidjan, the economic capital of Ivory Coast. It involves improving the efficiency and extending the sewerage system in this city of 6.2 million inhabitants. The contract was officially awarded on 19 May 2023 by Bouaké Fofana, Ivory Coast’s Minister of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.

The terms of reference for Gauff Engineering, based in Nuremberg, Germany, include connecting households in Abidjan to public sanitation services. According to the German company, barely 15% of households in Ivory Coast’s economic capital are connected to the public sewerage system.

Work to start in October 2023

The work will also involve the construction of wastewater and rainwater drainage systems, given that Ivory Coast’s economic capital has been prone to flooding for several years, exacerbated by pollution and climate change. For the record, the 2018 flood was the worst, causing extensive human and material damage. Gauff Engineering is due to start work on the various sites in October 2023. The liquid sanitation project will focus on the poorest districts of Abidjan.

Improving the efficiency and extending the sanitation system in Abidjan will therefore cost the Ivorian Ministry of Hydraulics, Sanitation and Hygiene €178 million. The choice of Gauff Engineering to implement this sanitation project is not insignificant, as the German company has been operating in Ivory Coast since 2019. Between 2019 and 2022, four projects were carried out in the city of Abidjan to improve its sanitation system.

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In particular, work has been undertaken on the Anyama-Abobo district sewerage system, including wastewater disposal, and on rainwater collectors to drain the flood-prone polders in Anyama-Abobo. The flow capacity of an open drainage channel in Yopougon has been restored to reduce flooding. In addition, an open drainage system has been built to reduce the risk of flooding from rainwater in Locodjro, a village in the Autonomous District of Abidjan.