In May 2018, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported, citing the agency Tunis Afrique Presse, that KfW Development Bank was to lend Tunisia €82 million (US$95 million) to build a desalination plant at Zarat in the Gabes Governorate. The Tunisian government added €14.5 million. Plans covered 50,000 m³/day, expandable to 100,000 m³/day by 2027, plus three storage tanks and one pumping station. Signatories included representatives of KfW and the national water utility SONEDE. Operation was scheduled to start in 2021.
The report showed how Tunisia drew on German development finance to reduce its reliance on groundwater, planning a series of desalination plants mainly in the south.