Tunisia- Japan granted Tunisia a credit worth 36,676 million yen, about 780 million dinars (MD), to build a sea water desalination plant in Sfax. This credit, will be repaid over 25 years, 7 years of which are grace period with an interest rate of 1.7%.
The project is scheduled to end in 2020.
The desalination project in Sfax is the first implementation of Japanese commitments adopted through the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) in the TUNISIA 2020 Conference on Investment held in November 2016.
This cooperation program between both countries comes as part of the 9th Joint Tunisian-Japanese Commission. The commission discussed bilateral and partnership relations binding the two countries, notably in investment, renewable energy, tourism and information and communication technologies fields.
The project will contribute to reinforce the capacity and quality of drinking water distribution by helping SONEDE provide 100,000 tons of additional water in a first stage to the region of Greater Sfax, the second largest city in Tunisia.
After its conclusion, the project will provide high-quality water for over two million Tunisian citizen.
JICA’s representative in Tunisia said that his country’s support for Tunisia in the field of infrastructure takes into consideration that this sector is a basic factor in accomplishing a sustainable economic growth.
He added that this project comes as part of the Japanese program to support infrastructure in African countries, and that during Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-VI) held in 2016, Japan has decided to allocate $10 billion to invest in infrastructure projects in Africa.
Japan has contributed in many Tunisian projects, particularly to develop railway networks in the south, and to build five solar power plants, along with other development-related projects in the interior regions.
Since 1977, through the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), Japan has funded nearly 42 projects with credits of 7,258 million Tunisian dinar (over $3 billion) to carry on important projects in the fields of water, transport, and protection of Tunisian cities from floods in the agriculture sector.
As part of its financial grants, the European Union (EU) granted Tunisia a credit of 100 million Euro.
In June, both parties have inked five agreements worth 63 million euro according to which the European commission funds programs and projects of development in Tunisia.
The projects covered fields like justice, media, woman empowerment, housing, and protection of borders. EU said that this sum represents the first part of the 300-million-euro financial aid program targeting Tunisia.