In September 2021, Middle East Construction News reported that Metito, Orascom and Cobra had jointly won the tender for a seawater desalination plant at Sfax. The client was the state water utility SONEDE, and Japanese development agency JICA covered the full cost. The reverse osmosis plant was to supply 100,000 m³/day, expandable to 200,000 m³/day, and enter service in February 2024. Metito took on design, procurement and construction, and the consortium was to run the plant for two years afterwards.
The report showed that Tunisia relied on seawater desalination for the water supply of Sfax and combined Japanese development finance with an international construction consortium to deliver it.
Source: Middle East Construction News