Al Aminou Lo’s categorical rebuttal: “The studies are not even finished yet”

Prime Minister Al Aminou Lo defended investment-credit reductions in the 2026 supplementary finance bill, saying studies for the Grand Water Transfer project and work related to compensation are not yet complete. The 20 billion CFA francs initially budgeted to begin compensation was removed because the census and assessment of payments have not started. Lo said the cuts do not mean the project has been abandoned: funding is to be included in the 2027 initial finance bill, while commitment authorizations remain in place to allow contracts to be concluded before the end of 2026. The public-private partnership project is expected to begin implementation in 2027.