Ethiopia Inaugurates Water, Sanitation Project in Historic Town

An African Development Bank-funded water and sewage project has been inaugurated in Harar, the first town in Ethiopia to get piped water and a UNESCO world heritage site.

The town in southeastern Ethiopia got the country’s first piped water supplies 110 years ago, then a decade ago water from Lake Alemaya became insufficient due to irrigation, siltation and rising population, the bank said.

With the lake’s existence itself in danger even with restrictions on water use and rationing, the AfDB provided $33 million in funding for the Harar project that opened this month. The source of water serving the project comes from 75 kilometers (47 miles) away and involves four pumping stations.

To contact the reporter on this story: Randall Hackley in Zurich at rhackley@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Randall Hackley at rhackley@bloomberg.net