Kenya: England to support the construction of a dam for the production of electricity and the supply of water for 400,000 hectares of agricultural land

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Kenyan President William Ruto have agreed to implement six climate change mitigation and adaptation projects in Kenya, for a total investment of nearly 500 billion Kenyan shillings ($4.1 billion), announced the British government in a press release published on Monday 7 November.

A sum of 425 billion shillings will be spent on the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Tana River to support the production of 1 gigawatt of electricity and provide water to irrigate 400,000 hectares of agricultural land, it said. the same source specified, indicating that this agreement was concluded during a meeting between the two leaders at the 27th United Nations Climate Conference (COP27).

The agreement also covers the development of a climate-resilient agricultural center in the Lake Victoria region, for an investment of 32 billion shillings.

Some 7.5 billion shillings will also be invested in a solar power plant project led by the energy group Globeleq, while 2.5 billion shillings will be devoted to the development of a geothermal power plant with a capacity of 35 megawatts.

5 billion shillings will support the ecological transformation of the center of Nairobi, by articulating it around a new railway station.

The UK will also partner with Kenyan pension fund manager CPF Financial Services to launch a new Guarantee Fund, which is expected to mobilize 12 billion shillings of new finance to develop climate-resilient infrastructure in Kenya in over the next three years.