Construction of Kourouba dam project in Mali has been completed marking the completion of Component 1 of the Irrigation Development Programme in the Bani Basin and Sélingué (PDI-BS), a government initiative that is entirely financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to the tune of US $25m.
The multi-purpose dam is located in Kourouba village, in the Cercle of Kati in the Koulikoro Region of south-western Mali. Works were carried out by China Geo-engineering cooperation (CGC), a Chinese construction company and involved in the construction of hydropower plants, electric power projects, agricultural irrigation works, water supply, house building, and road projects among others.
The dam is expected to boost the activities of farmers, stockbreeders, and fishermen, consequently increasing their income and reduce poverty. In future through the PDI-BS will have an impact on nearly 12,000 farms, that’s approximately 130,000 people in the intervention zones of Sélingué, Bla/San, and Djenné.
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Outspreading developed areas
“The dam is a 272.5 m long mobile threshold whose main objective is to raise the water level of the Sankarani River to guarantee agriculture on the Maninkoura perimeter which is approximately 1,094 hectares, and to open up access to roads for about 70 km of rural tracks, “explained Moctar Ouane, the Malian Prime Minister.
The dam will also increase the possibility of outspreading the developed areas of the Office de Développement rural de Sélingué (ODRS) which have an identified potential of 5,000 hectares of irrigable land.
On the energy sector, Kourouba dam contribute to the improvement of access to electricity. It will be integrated into a power plant (Kourouba hydropower plant), equipped with 12 VLH turbines totalizing an installed capacity of 3.9 MW. The power plant will bring energy to about 20.000 people in the Kourouba region.
