São Paulo – The Environmental Sanitation Company of the Federal District (Caesb) is transferring technology in the water and sewage sector to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. Since an agreement was signed, in the second half of last year, Caesb professionals have travelled to the African country to learn about the local sanitation reality and representatives of Sudan visited the Federal District to learn closely about the company’s practices.
Technology transfer is part of an agreement that the government of Brasília signed with Khartoum, in 2011, making them sister cities. Sanitation was identified as an area with great need for cooperation. Another agreement was then signed between Caesb and two public companies from Sudan, who operate in the sector, one in the water sector and the other in sewage.
The Special Projects advisor at Caesb, Klaus Neder, was one of the professionals who visited Sudan together with another two company representatives, last year. “Khartoum is a large city, with water supply problems and the collection and treatment of sewage is still small,” said Neder. According to him, there is a significant volume of work to be done in the city. “We hope to contribute in all areas.”
Cooperation between both countries should include from water technology transfer to management training. In November last year, a group of around eight people from Khartoum, among them the presidents of the water and sanitation companies, visited the Federal District to exchange experience with Caesb. A second Sudanese visit is forecasted for coming months, possibly in April or May.
Apart from that, a request for support was made to the fund of the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum (Ibsa), which provides funds for projects to alleviate poverty, for implementation of a pilot project in Khartoum. The idea, according to Neder, is to implement all systems – water, sewage, draining and waste collection – in a specific area of Khartoum, so that it may serve as a parameter for the rest of the city. Development of the project, however, still depends on approval of support by Ibsa, whose answer has not yet been given.
According to Neder, this is the first Caesb cooperation with a country in Africa. The company has developed similar activities in South American and Haiti as well as other regions of Brazil. There are also talks with Kenya and Morocco. The advisor stated that Caesb has a policy of expanding markets and, for this reason, cooperation is interesting to the company. Apart from learning about other realities, Caesb is gaining experience to sell its services abroad. Caesb is a state-run company under private law.
*Translated by Mark Ament
