The African Development Bank says it might cut funding to countries that fail to give priority to disadvantaged groups while awarding tenders for development projects, the lender's executive has warned.
The marginalised groups include women, youth and persons living with disabilities, for whom the Constitution set aside 30 per cent quota of state deals.
This is part of a three-year action plan in which the development financier is seeking to foster inclusion of women in infrastructure development, regional integration, private sector development, governance and technology development.
AfDB vice president and special envoy for gender Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said they are reviewing the rules to give women easy access to procurement opportunities in the projects that will be funded by the lender in future.
“We are already working on a plan with a concrete approach to procurement. Every project that is funded by AfDB in future will have a clear gender marker,” she said yesterday during the women's property rights forum launched by the Women in Parliaments Global Forum in Nairobi.
The forum was convened to champion women's legal and property rights.
AfDB was established in 1964 to contribute to the economic development and social progress of African countries.
It ranks among the largest financiers of projects in the continent. The lender had advanced $112 billion (Sh11.45 trillion) worth of loans and grants in 4,370 projects across Africa between 1967 and 2015.
However, the participation of women has largely been overlooked.
