Recently, in the city of Kara in northern Togo, the days when residents had less than 12 hours of daily water supply are expected to become history. On October 10, 2026, the official website of China Geological Engineering Group announced that the company had signed a contract for LOT1 section of the drinking water supply project in Kara, Togo. The groundbreaking ceremony was held locally on September 28, 2026. Minister level representatives of Togo, Sena Alipuy, and the district mayor of Kara, Ajitou Komran, attended. After completion, the project will significantly improve the water supply situation in the city of Kara and surrounding areas in northern Togo, benefiting over 200000 residents.

Water intake and transportation package project

The drinking water supply project in Kara city is located along the Alejo area of the Kara region in northern Togo. The main construction content of LOT1 section includes the construction of a water intake structure on the Sarah River in Bafilo, with a water intake capacity of 500 cubic meters per hour; Laying 8.3-kilometer raw water transmission pipeline; Construct a new water treatment plant with a design capacity of approximately 500 cubic meters per hour; Construct a 750 cubic meter water treatment reservoir; Laying approximately 60 kilometers of water distribution network; Renovate the old Bafilo water plant, construct public water supply points, and provide subsidized household connections. The overall investment of the project is about 27 billion CFA francs, jointly funded by the Kuwait Arab Economic Development Fund, the Islamic Development Bank, and the Togolese government. The LOT1 section contract amount is about 8.6 billion CFA francs, approximately 98 million yuan, and the construction period is 14 to 18 months. After the completion of the project, the access rate of tap water in the Kara area will increase from 50% to about 75%, and 40000 new households will be connected.

Twenty six years of deep cultivation in West Africa

China Geology Togo Benin Branch was registered in Benin and Togo in 2000, and has formed a business system supported by water supply, housing construction, and road construction. The branch currently has 195 sets of various construction machinery and equipment, with an original value of about 30 million US dollars. There are 65 Chinese management and technical personnel, more than 1000 local employees, and more than 280 engineering projects have been completed, with an annual turnover of about 25 million US dollars. In the field of water management in West Africa, China has accumulated multiple benchmark projects in geology. The 12 city water supply project in Cote d'Ivoire is provided with preferential loans by the Export Import Bank of China and implemented by China Geological General Contracting. The daily water supply capacity of the Bouvare city water supply project is 8000 cubic meters, benefiting 100000 local residents; The contract amount for the second phase of the Abidjan water supply project is approximately 605 million yuan, which completely solves the problem of difficult urban water supply in the Abidjan region and has been awarded the 2022 Overseas Sustainable Infrastructure Project Award. Keywords: Infrastructure News Network, International, Water Projects

Multi party financing with Chinese enterprises as the general contractor

The Kara City project is the latest landing point of Chinese geology in the West African water market, and also a microcosm of the cluster layout of Chinese enterprises in the West African water industry. Recently, water projects in West Africa have been intensively promoted: the Congo Kananga City Water Distribution Network Repair and Expansion Project, undertaken by China Communications First Highway Engineering Group, laid its foundation on October 5, 2026; Anhui Shui'an has successfully won the bid for Section 1 of the B1 and B2 dams and irrigation projects in Doufelgou Province, Togo; China Harbour's water supply projects in Kottivanikara and Canavolo are also underway. In West Africa, the traditional EPC model is the main approach. The drinking water project in Kara city is financed by multilateral financial institutions, with the Togolese government as the owner, and China Geology is contracted through EPC general contracting. The core of this model is multilateral financing plus government owners plus general contracting of Chinese enterprises, whose roles focus on design, procurement and construction. The Gulf is mainly based on PPP and BOOT models. Taking the Riyadh East Sewage Plant PPP project in Saudi Arabia as an example, the project adopts a 25 year BOOT model, which is constructed, owned, operated by private capital and handed over at the end of the period. The two modes correspond to different market maturity and risk structures, providing Chinese water industry chain enterprises with two different rhythms and return structures for going global.Editor/Gao Xue