African Development Bank Group (AfDB) Board of Directors has approved US $391 million to help in financing a major water and sanitation project in Kenya.
The project named the Kenya Towns Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Program is meant to improve access, quality, availability and sustainability of water supply in 19 towns and wastewater management services in 17 towns in the country.
The project is aimed at catalyzing commercial activities, improve economic growth, improve living standards of the people and enhance resilience against climate change.
These objectives can easily be attained through rehabilitation and construction of new water supply and sanitation projects including those in the informal settlements; as well as developing capacity of water service providers, water sector regulators together with women and youth.
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The project will offer over 2.1 million people with sustainable and reliable water supply services and over 1.3 million people with water-borne sewerage systems.
Additionally, the project will create more than 15,000 employment opportunities during and after its implementation.
It is expected boost Kenya’s rapid urbanization, which is a boost to the country’s GDP growth, increases in productivity and incomes, economic transformation and creation of employment.
It is expected that over half of Kenya’s population will be living in cities and towns by 2030.
The project fits is in line with Kenya’s Vision 2030 and its five-year Mid-Term Plan II (MTP-II), whose implementation is highly dependent on sustainable and adequate supply of water sanitation services.
The MTP-II gives much priority to the water sector investments which includes expansion of water supply and sanitation in major towns.
The program also resonates with three of the five priority areas the Bank’s High-5s to advance Africa’s transformative agenda: Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.
Finally, the project is in line with the Bank’s interventions in towns and cities in support of the Government’s efforts and commitments as it tackles the next generation of urban development challenges and reforms in the sector.
The project which will be implemented in 54 months, is approximated to cost US $451.66 million. The Bank’s loans and grants will cover 86.52% of the total program costs. The Government of Kenya will contribute US $60.87 million in counterpart funding
