Meso-Financing in Egypt in the pipeline
Sanitation in slums
The lack of sanitation causes a great deal of suffering. There are developing countries where living conditions on the outskirts of large cities and in the countryside around them are appalling. Hygiene is very poor and so, consequently, is the health of the people who live there. The governments in these countries often do not get round to taking any action, even though every dollar invested there can produce four times that. Royal Haskoning and Rabobank are starting Meso-Financing to tackle this problem.
Head of the Water Economy and Institutional Development Advisory Group Frederik Mabesoone is rolling out the concept for the first time in Fayoum, Egypt. ‘It was thought up in response to a call from Herrie Heckman, our team leader on the spot. He worked on the management of a waste water purification plant for the city but saw that the slums there were not included in it. By using Meso-Financing and introducing public-private partnership we hope to be able to connect around 2,000 extra households to the sewer system. The Egyptian government is delighted with our initiative.’
Meso-Financing
In Meso-Financing a group of people or a group of households get a loan
to build a communal system. In the Fayoum area this is for the construction of a simple waste water purification plant and (group) sanitary facilities in a slum area. The loan has to be repaid in accordance with a predetermined schedule. A local company can get down to work with the money, so the system also helps the local economy.
Effort
“Getting a project like Fayoum off the ground makes considerable demands on your inventiveness, social skills, organizational ability and perseverance. What is the donors’ policy and how does that fit in with your project? How do you deal with the political agenda and the wishes of the government? Which NGO do you ask for help in communicating with the people in the slum? Consultation at all kinds of levels is always essential if effective agreements are to be made. Royal Haskoning is primarily the catalyst and the matchmaker. In due course we will also be advising on the (low-tech) technical plant, but the challenge is arranging the organization and financing method so that it actually works. Our partners from the Netherlands are the Rabobank and the Aa and Maas Water Board and they have also shown an interest in playing an active part in the project. Among other things Rabobank is giving advice about the loan and the repayment schedule and is asking PBDAC, its partner bank in Egypt, to implement the financing model. Aa and Maas would like to put its knowledge about waste water purification to good use in Egypt.”
Future
Mabesoone says, “Every day Royal Haskoning is working on sustainable solutions for people and their environment. In Meso-Financing we have a good tool for shaping corporate social responsibility. In Fayoum all the parties are getting together now to discuss the mechanism and hopefully to get down to brass tacks so that a start can be made on building the waste water purification plant in early 2009. There are also plans for Rajasthan in India. And there will be more to come so that Royal Haskoning can continue to contribute to the realization of the millennium objective of giving half of the world population access to basic sanitation in 2015.’ ”
Contact: Frederik Mabesoone
+31 (0)24 3284 322
f.mabesoone@royalhaskoning.com
