Guinea Conakry: Tinkisso-Antenna becomes a social enterprise

Tinkisso-Antenna, our local partner, continues its activities on hygiene awareness with the aim of fighting water-related diseases in Guinea Conakry.

Supported by the Ministry of Health for the supply of stabilised flasks of sodium hypochlorite at the national level, and thanks to the support of Antenna, it also focuses on capacity building in terms of management, production and dissemination.

Endemic cholera and contaminated drinking water in homes in Guinea require effective and lasting interventions. The local NGO Tinkisso-Antenna is recognised as a main stakeholder by UNICEF and the Ministry of Health.

A sustainable and local chlorine distribution model encouraged by the authorities

Chlorine production is centralised in Conakry, where the Tinkisso-Antenna team produces it using Maxi-WATA equipment. The chlorine produced is stabilised, then poured into 250 ml flasks, under the brand “Chlore C”. Tinkisso-Antenna has established an effective system enabling chlorine flasks to be distributed through the following channels:

  • Hospitals and more than 130 healthcare centres
  • Marketplaces (points of sale and awareness raising)
  • Door-to-door (sale and advice)
  • More than 100 pharmacies
  • Mosques and churches

Social marketing is equally crucial in encouraging households to adopt good water treatment practices. Tinkisso-Antenna’s marketing strategy is supported by awareness campaigns about water-borne diseases and hygiene, and chlorine promotion.

Scaling up the social programme

The success of this Antenna-sponsored programme in Guinea now allows us to scale it up to the national level. The programme furthers achievement of national health and public hygiene policy objectives, namely increasing the number of people who have access to clean drinking water and reducing the incidence of waterborne illnesses in the Republic of Guinea. In 2011, Tinkisso-Antenna signed partnership agreements with the Ministry of Health in five regions: Conakry, Boké, Mamou, Labé and Kindia

  • The national laboratory regularly monitors the quality of chlorine produced by Tinkisso-Antenna.
  • Tinkisso-Antenna now has a licence to market chlorine.
  • Beneficiaries: 2,000,000 people
  • Funding: Antenna is supporting the supply and test of WATA devices and is looking for complementary funds for the upscaling of the programme.
  • Antenna contact: Pierre-Gilles Duvernay, click here to contact him
  • Local contact: Aboubacar Camara from Tinkisso-Antenna, click here to contact him

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