| Project Detail |
Egypt’s development strategy is built around the “Sustainable Development Strategy: 2030 Vision”, the Government Action Program “Egypt Takes Off”, and the recent Cabinet’s comprehensive reform program. The vision is being implemented through five-years action plans. The GoE is launching its second phase of “Egypt Takes Off” for 2023-2027. This new program builds on the previous milestones achieved by the 2018-2022 program which has put the foundation for a successful development trajectory for the Egyptian economy. The top priorities of the GoE in its new program 2023-2027 are: (i) promoting green economy and achieving water, food and energy security; (ii) increasing investment in health and education sectors and (iii) introducing new regulatory reforms aiming to facilitate the engagement of the private sector into the economic development process of Egypt. In order to position Egypt for a swift and sustainable recovery from the Covid-19 crisis, the GoE announced in May 2021 a second phase of the program namely the “National Structural Reforms Program (NSRP)”.
Project Objectives
The project’s development objective is to: i) improve environment sustainability by protecting the environment and water resource from pollution and to reduce health risks due to discharge of untreated wastewater to the drains and canals; ii) boost agriculture production through increasing water re-use for food security. The main outcomes of the project are a) provide treated waste water for new arable land of “70,000 Acres”; b) increase or expand the treatment plant’s capacity by 1.0 million m3/day (third stage) from 2.5 million m3 to 3.5 million m3 per day of both primary and secondary treatment so that increasing the direct beneficiary by 5 million people from 12.5 million to 17.5 million people. Provision of secondary treatment facilities is essential to meet effluent standards in Egypt and to improve the water quality environment of the drainage system. attention should be given to ensure that the project outcomes will not have a negative (economic, social, and/or environmental) side effect on targeted (or non-targeted) populations.
Beneficiaries
The GEAWWTP is located in East Cairo and its catchment area consists of the greater part of Cairo. In terms of wastewater treatment and improved sanitation coverage, the plant currently serves 12.5 million persons directly5, however upon completion, it will directly benefit more than 17.5 million people located in the urban areas covering the following governorates: Cairo, Qaliobia, Sharqia, and Ismailia. A second group of direct beneficiaries include people living in villages downstream of the plant and along the system draining the effluent from the plant into Bahr El Baqar drain, estimated to be around 1 million persons, which will benefit from an improved environment and consequent reduction of diseases associated with untreated wastewater. Indirect beneficiaries include farmers and fishermen around Lake Manzala and in the Sinai Peninsula who will benefit from additional sources of water for agriculture and irrigation purposes. |
