The African Development Bank's (AfDB.org) Board of Directors has approved two loans worth €235.763 million for the completion of  construction work on Thwake dam on Thwake River in southern Kenya (bit.ly/2DxMe2W). This is a strategic water supply project for the large semi-arid area of Makueni County and surrounding regions, including the new technology city of Konza. The loans were approve on 14 November.

The package, which was requested by Kenyan authorities, comprises two loans – €192.570 million from the Bank and €43.193 million from the Africa Growing Together Fund (AGFT). This additional support follows a €76 million loan granted by the Bank in 2013 to start building the dam as part of the Thwake Multi-Purpose Development Programme (TMWDP), which aims to provide drinking water, hydroelectric energy and irrigation.

Completion of the 80.5 m high multi-purpose dam will enable the storage of 681 million m³ of water, of which 625 million m³ will be used for electricity production and downstream irrigation of agricultural land; 22 million m³ for upstream irrigation and 34 million for human use. Construction in the initial phase of the TMWDP project should be completed in December 2022.

This will be followed by three further phases:1) the construction of hydraulic plants to treat up to 34,600 m³ of water for household use for 674,700 rural inhabitants and up to 117,200 m³ for 640,000 residents in the technology city of Konza; 2) hydroelectric energy production; 3)  40,000 ha of irrigation.

The Bank's €3.2 billion Kenya portfolio comprises 33 operations. Water and sanitation operations account for about 22% of the portfolio's value for the public sector.