According to the Bank’s website, the Investment Planning and Effective Governance for the Sustainable Satisfaction of Water Uses in the Mono Basin Project (PGEAU-MONO) is a multinational water governance and investment planning project covering Benin and Togo. The project is designed to strengthen transboundary water governance and prepare a strategic investment framework for the sustainable management of water resources and associated ecosystems in the Mono River Basin. It will finance the preparation and adoption of a Schéma Directeur d’Aménagement et de Gestion des Eaux (SDAGE) for the basin, together with its supporting documents, including the diagnostic study, cartographic atlas, programme of measures, strategic environmental assessment, and investment plan. The project also includes the implementation of two climate-resilient pilot demonstration projects, one in each country, and support for project management, coordination, monitoring and capacity building for the Mono Basin Authority (ABM) and national stakeholders. The total project cost is EUR 1 million, financed by an African Water Facility/AfDB grant of EUR 700,000 (70%), with EUR 200,000 from the Mono Basin Authority, EUR 50,000 from the Government of Benin, and EUR 50,000 from the Government of Togo.

The development objective of the project is to contribute to the sustainable satisfaction of water uses in the Mono Basin through improved planning, governance, water diplomacy for peace, investment planning, and mobilization of financial resources for the operationalization of integrated water resources management, while reducing the adverse effects of climate change on water resources and associated ecosystems and improving the living conditions of basin populations. More specifically, the project seeks to prepare and secure adoption of the basin SDAGE and its accompanying documents, test locally adapted climate-resilient solutions through pilot interventions, and strengthen the institutional, technical and organizational capacities of the Mono Basin Authority and national and local stakeholders.

The project covers the entire transboundary Mono Basin shared by Benin and Togo, with particular emphasis on two pilot sites: the Amou sub-basin in Togo (Central Region) and Lake Djétoé in the commune of Lokossa in Benin. The direct users of the project outputs during the current phase are the Mono Basin Authority (ABM) and its governance bodies, the sector ministries and agencies of both countries, local authorities, deconcentrated technical services, and development partners that will use the SDAGE and investment plan to guide future actions and investments. The pilot activities will also directly involve local communities and basin management structures, including women and youth, and are expected to reach about 250 direct beneficiaries, including at least 100 women, through capacity-building linked to the demonstration projects. At basin scale, the results framework estimates that about 2.1 million people, representing roughly 60% of the basin population, including at least 50% women and youth, could benefit over the next five years from improved integrated water resources management once priority investments identified under the SDAGE are financed and implemented. The wider basin population is estimated at around 3.5 million inhabitants.

Following the preparation mission, it was decided to classify the Project as Category 3 (project with low E&S risks) due to the absence of major E&S risks associated with the implementation of the activities.

The total project cost is EUR 1 million, financed by an African Water Facility/AfDB grant of EUR 700,000 (70%), with EUR 200,000 from the Mono Basin Authority, EUR 50,000 from the Government of Benin, and EUR 50,000 from the Government of Togo.

Name: Yao Yélidji Joël TOSSOU
Email: y.tossou@afdb.org

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