The African Development Bank (AfDB) has released a Portfolio Restructuring Note for the Port Sudan Emergency Water and Sanitation Project to address the worsening humanitarian crisis and severe disruptions to clean water supply in Sudan. This decision comes as the internal conflict in the country reaches a devastating peak and enters its third year, with the objective of quickly repairing infrastructure destroyed by the war and delivering urgent relief to the population.
According to the African Development Bank’s official statement, more than 25.5 million people in Sudan currently need emergency humanitarian assistance, with the shortage of clean drinking water and sanitation services being one of the primary and most critical concerns. The war has completely paralyzed basic social services, forcing an unprecedented 11.3 million citizens to become internally displaced and compelling an additional 3.7 million to flee to neighboring countries to save their lives. This has turned Sudan’s crisis into one of the largest mass displacement zones in the world.
Port Sudan, the focus city of this African Development Bank emergency project, serves as a primary shelter and temporary hub for millions of displaced people fleeing the war. However, the city’s water infrastructure has failed to operate normally due to the destruction caused by the war, as well as a severe shortage of both human resources and financial capacity.
In particular, because the budget required to repair water distribution lines and sustain operations was cut off, the water supply capacity in the city has fallen completely short of meeting the high demand.
What further worsened the water crisis in Port Sudan and demanded the bank’s urgent intervention were the climate- and disaster-related shocks layered on top of the man-made conflict. Most notably, the sudden failure of the Arba’at Dam on August 26, 2024, triggered severe flooding in the city and significantly reduced the capacity of Port Sudan’s entire water supply system. Because this dam was the primary water source for the city, its collapse has exposed millions of people to severe thirst and vulnerability to waterborne diseases.
Following this event, the new restructuring note prepared by the African Development Bank reorganizes financial resources to directly divert budgets previously allocated for long-term projects toward this urgent water and sanitation project (Project P-SD-E00-010).
In cooperation with Sudan’s water and sanitation authorities and international civil society organizations, the bank plans to rebuild destroyed water treatment plants, repair broken water pipes, and provide mobile water tankers to camps housing displaced people.
Furthermore, the bank stated that it aims to link this project with the country’s agriculture, climate change, and financial governance sectors to build sustainable infrastructure that can withstand similar natural disasters in the future. This restructuring note released by the African Development Bank is regarded as a timely measure confirming that—given Sudan’s current dire state of internal insecurity and natural disasters—providing clean water is a matter of basic human rights and survival.
