Danida Sustainable Infrastructure Finance (DSIF), managed by IFU, is providing a subsidised loan and grants to the Kenyan Ministry of Finance and National Treasury to finance water and sanitation infrastructure projects in the Southern part of Kenya. The project owner, Athi Water Works Development Agency (AWWDA), has now started procurement, offering Danish Contractors or Danish led Joint-Ventures to bid on the entrepreneurial tasks.
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, DSIF has offered a DKK 486m grant to the Kenyan Government. Part of the grant will be used to cover interest and other financial costs on a loan from Danske Bank, while another part will go toward technical assistance. The government-owned AWWDA will use the funds to build major water and sanitation infrastructure projects in the towns of Thika and Githunguri. Total project cost is estimated to approximately DKK 1.126 million.
Danish stronghold in water project Danish water companies, PEMconsult, and the French firm SUEZ are currently delivering technical support to enhance the project’s capacity, while COWI has secured the consultancy role for design and supervision.
Additional Danish contractors or Danish-led joint ventures are now eligible to bid on the construction and infrastructure development tasks. With Denmark’s extensive expertise in water infrastructure, Danish companies are well-positioned to play a significant role in these projects, demonstrating Denmark’s dedication to ensuring clean water access for all while building strong and equitable partnerships with Africa.
This initiative is an important step toward securing a sustainable and climate-resilient water and sanitation sector for Kenya. DSIF’s involvement supports a long-term vision of providing clean water and improved sanitation infrastructure to the African population.
The entrepreneurial tasks include the construction and upgrading of water and sewage treatment plants, expansion of water intake and distribution systems. AWWDA is the project owner and therefore selects their entrepreneurial partners.
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.
Read the prequalification document here: Final-Prequalification_Docu_-Addednum-No-1.pdf
DSIF’s financial involvement is approved by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Development Policy Council (Udviklingspolitisk Råd).
Managing Director and Co-head of Public Infrastructure Finance
Tina Kollerup Hansen
+45 33 44 12 35
