Quest Water Seeks AfDB Funds for Water From Air in Angola

Quest Water Global Inc. (QWTR), whose systems create water from humidity, is negotiating with the African Development Bank for loans to build plants in Angola, where half the population lacks clean drinking water.

The company received a letter of intent from the Tunisia- based bank to finance plants that will cost $5.5 million to $6 million each, Quest Water said today in a statement. Water is considered a “priority area of intervention” for the lender, which will consider the funding after Angola submits a formal request for support.

Quest Water’s AQUAtap plants can make as much as 20,000 liters (5,300 gallons) of water a day. The Vancouver-based company has a facility in Bom Jesus, Angola, and is in talks with the industry and the energy and water ministries to build more, according to the statement.

Angola initiated its $650 million “Water for All” program in 2007 to try to provide all of its rural population and 80 percent of city dwellers with clean water by 2020. Only 51 percent of Angolans have access to clean drinking water, according to a United Nations report.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ehren Goossens in New York at egoossens1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net