UK to Fund Kenya’s Ksh425 Billion Mega Dam
The construction of the dam will be Kenya’s second expensive infrastructure project after the standard gauge railway.
REBP
The United Kingdom has committed to funding the construction of a multipurpose dam in Kitui and Tharaka Nithi counties that will cost Ksh425 billion.
The deal was reached following a conversation between President William Ruto and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during the climate conference C0P27 in Egypt.
The construction of the dam will be Kenya’s second expensive infrastructure project after the standard gauge railway. The deal is part of six projects worth Ksh500 billion to be fast-tracked under a new UK pack signed during the conference.
The six projects include a new geothermal project in Menegai, a solar energy project in Malindi, the Nairobi Railway City regeneration project, a credit guarantee scheme, and the multipurpose mega-dam.
The dam is a public-private partnership on the Tana River and is planned to generate 1,000 megawatts of hydroelectric energy and provide irrigation for 400,000 hectares of farmland.
The UK government noted in a statement, “ Led by UK engineering firm GBM, the project is envisaged to include both a Power Purchase Agreement for clean energy and a Water Purchase Agreement for agricultural irrigation.”
The green investment programs, in energy, agriculture, and transport, will be the flagship projects of the UK-Kenya Strategic Partnership, which is a five-year deal.
Furthermore, the partnership reached an agreement on a Ksh11.5 billion project for the green regeneration of Nairobi’s central business district, anchored around a new central rail station connected to the bus rapid transit that will incorporate the latest innovations in green building technology and planning.
“The project has been developed with technical assistance from the UK government and UK architects (Atkins) won the contract to design the new station,” read a statement.
Speaking to a local daily, an official from the UK’s High Commission in Nairobi affirmed that all six projects have gone through approved due diligence processes to ensure that they do not turn out to be pipe dreams.
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