One Million One Hundred Thousand Dollar Credit to Burundi on March 30, 1966

• INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION 1818 H STREET. N.W .. WASHINGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 IOA Presa Rele~se No~ 66/7 Subject: $1.1 Million Credit March 30, 1966 to Burundi The Internation~l Development Association (IDA), an affiliate of the World Rank, has approved a credit equivalent to $1.1 million to the Kingdom of Burundi. The credit will help to finance the improvement and expansion of the water supply system in Bujumbura, the capital. The additional capacity will meet the demand of the Bujumbura area until about 1978, and the facilities could easily be ex- panded thereafter. Burundi with a population of 2.6 million is, after the Nile Delta and neigh- • boring Rwanda, the most densely populated region in Africa. Jsujumbura with about 67,000 inhabitants. The largest town is The existing water system in Bujumbura, rmilt in 1947, has been operating above its rated capacity for a number of years. Only about a third of the population, however, have direct water service; the re- P\a:tnder rely for their water supplies on street fountains or public taps. Present water sources are inadequate and unreliable. The main water source is the Ndahangwa River, supplemented by a spring. Floods from rainstorms, which have been unusually s~vere in recent years, cause heavy erosion to the area surrounding the water intake 1n the river so that there are periods when no water is available from this source. Furthermore, the general deterioration of water service in Bujumbura has become a serious potential health hazard to the growing population. The project now being undertaken with IDA assistance will provide an adequat.~ and reliable supply of pure water from a practically unlimited source, Lake Tangan- .• yH·.a on which Bujumbura is located. The project includes the construction of a t·rnter intake crib to be 101:ated about a half mile offshore in Lake Tanganyika; an  - 2 - intake line from the crib to a pump station onshore; a water treatment plant with~ ~ capaci~y of about 14~500 cubic meters a day; a small storage reservoir, electrical facilities, interconnecting pipes, transmission lines and additions to the distri- bution system. A sufficient supply of safe water should reduce the incidence of disease associated with a poor water supply and permit the expansion of service r.0 increasing numbers each year. The new works will be built and operated by Regie de Distribution d'Eau et d'Electr~cite (Regideso), the national water and electricity authority. Construc- tion is scheduled for completion in 1969 at a total estimated cost equivalent to $1.7 million. Sixty-five per cent, or $1.1 million, will be in foreign exchange and will be covered by the IDA credit; Regideso will finance the remaining costs from its own resources. The credit will be for a term of SO years. A~gust 1, 1976, after a 10-year period of grace. Repayment of principal will begin Thereafter, 1% of the principal ,;·n.11 be repayable annually for 10 years and 3% will be repayable annually for the • final 30 years. The credit is free of interest, but a service charge of 3/4 of 1% per annum on the amount withdrawn and outstanding will be made to meet IDA's administrative costs. The Kingdom of Burundi will relend the proceeds of the credit to Regideso for 14-1/2 years, including 5 years of grace, at an interest rate of 5-1/2% per annum. The credit will be the first IDA operation in Burundi. Before independence in 1962, Burundi was administered jointly with Rwanda as the Belgian Trust Terri- tory of Ruanda-Urundi. In 1957 the Bank made a loan of $4.8 millicn to Ruanda- Ur.undi, with the guarantee of Belgium, for a road and a modern lake port at Bjumbura in Burundi. •