Public Infrastructure Finance has provided a subsidised loan and grants to the Kenyan Ministry of Finance and National Treasury to finance water and sanitation infrastructure projects in the Southern towns of Kenya, Thika and Githunguri.
With a population growth of around 2 per cent per year, and an increasing frequency of droughts and floods, many Kenyans lack access to clean water, and even fewer have access to basic sanitation.
To address the rising demand for clean water and sanitation, Public Infrastructure Finance has offered a DKK 486m grant to the Kenyan Government. Part of the grant will be used to cover interest and other financial costs , while another part will go toward technical assistance. The government-owned Athi Water Works Development Agency (AWWDA) will use the funds to build major water and sanitation infrastructure projects in the towns of Thika and Githunguri.
Project is core for Kenya’s vision 2030
In Thika, around half of the population lack access to piped water, and the existing water treatment plant supplies only 48 per cent of the projected demand for 2045. Githunguri lacks a water treatment plant, relying entirely on four aging boreholes for its water supply.
AWWDA is developing, improving, and expanding the water and sanitation projects in the two towns, and by 2030, the infrastructure will provide clean and affordable water to 250,000 people and connect 126,000 people to sewage systems. In addition, the construction of the infrastructure is expected to create around 300-400 temporary jobs, which is crucial for Kenya’s growing youth, where one in three people will be young by 2030. The project thereby supports Kenya’s Vision 2030 – a goal of an industrialised, middle-income country providing high quality of life to all its citizens by 2030.