President William Ruto has intensified his campaign for a substantial replenishment of the African Development Fund, underscoring the transformative impact of the Fund-backed projects in Kenya.
The Fund is the concessional window of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group.
President Ruto reaffirmed his advocacy during a meeting with AfDB Group president Akinwumi Adesina, at State House, Nairobi last Thursday.
Adesina was visiting Kenya to assess preparations for the Group’s 59th Annual Meetings scheduled for May 27- 31.
In his address at the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) meeting in Nairobi last month, President Ruto called for a substantial $25 billion(Sh3.3 trillion) 17th replenishment of the Fund which supports 37 low-income countries in Africa.
The ongoing 16th replenishment, which raised a historic $8.9 billion (Sh 1.1 trillion) in December 2022, is set to conclude next year.
“I will continue to make a strong case for the 17 th replenishment of the African Development Fund. Kenya has benefitted from resources made available to us by the Fund,” said President Ruto.
He cited the Last Mile Connectivity project which has expanded from 2.5 million households connected to the national electricity grid in 2013-14, to more than 10 million.
“It is making a difference in people’s lives and we want to invest more to add momentum,” Ruto said.
The discussions between the two leaders also included increased investments in other crucial sectors like agriculture, a top priority for the Kenyan government.
President Ruto also emphasised the need for clean water provision and praised the AfDB-funded Kenya Towns Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation programme for its positive impact on millions of people.
Adesina reiterated the Bank’s commitment to collaborate with the Kenyan government in de-risking lending to agriculture through instruments like partial risk guarantees and credit guarantees.
He highlighted their successful implementation in several other countries.
“We have used partial credit guarantees to support the issuance of $500 million Panda bond by Egypt. We also used this tool to de-risk a EUR 350 million sustainable development loan for Benin," he said.
AfDB also did the same for Côte d’Ivoire to support the mobilisation of EUR 533 million in financing for strategic environmental, social and governance projects.
