President William Ruto Monday thanked the African Development Bank (AfDB) for working with Kenya to drive critical areas of the country’s growth in the past 60 years.
He made the remarks when he conferred AfDB President and Chairman of the Board Akinwumi Adesina with the Chief of the Order of Golden Heart (CGH) award in Monday at State House, Nairobi.
The award, Kenya’s highest and most distinguished honour, is in recognition of Dr Adesina’s leadership of the bank and working with Kenya in the development of the country.
“It is an honour and privilege as President, and on behalf of the people of Kenya, to award you for the distinguished service, commitment, and passion you have demonstrated for our country,” he said.
Dr Adesina, 65, lived in Kenya for nine years, while working for the Rockefeller Foundation and the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
Accepting the award, Dr Adesina said: “I am really humbled by your incredible kindness. What a great honour, what a rare privilege, what a historic recognition!”
Dr Adesina served as Nigeria’s Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development before being elected AfDB president in 2015.
President Ruto said the AfDB has been a reliable partner in the development and improvement of roads, energy, agriculture, and water sector in the country.
Since its establishment in 1964, the bank has financed 167 projects in the country to the tune of $7.8 billion. These include Thika Super Highway, Outerring Road, Lake Turkana Wind Power project, and the Menengai Geothermal Power Plant.
Dr Adesina said 57 of these projects, worth $4.4 billion, have been undertaken since he came to office 10 years ago.
He said the current portfolio of 45 projects, worth $4.1 billion, including $852 for ongoing road projects linking Kenya and neighbouring countries.
They are the Bagamoyo-Tanga-Hororo-Lungalunga-Malindi road, linking Kenya and Tanzania; Kapchorwa-Kitale-Suam road linking Kenya and Uganda; Leseru-Kitale-Turkwel road linking Kenya and South Sudan.
The bank has also financed the dualling of the 84km Kenol-Sagana-Marua road which is nearing completion. President Ruto said he would inspect progress on the road later in the month.
Ruto recalled his time as Minister for Agriculture, between 2008 and 2010, when he and Dr Adesina introduced a programme for subsidised farm inputs.
He explained that since he came to office in 2022, the government has successfully implemented the subsidised fertiliser programme.
“Today, I can proudly say, because of the government’s fertiliser subsidy, production of maize has increased tremendously from 42 million bags in 2022 to 70 million last year,” he said.
On water and sanitation, Dr Adesina said the bank is providing $634 million for the Kenya Towns Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Project.
Previously, the bank gave a loan of €315 million for the construction of Thwake Multi-Purpose Dam, which will provide water to 1.3 million people in Kitui and Makueni counties once complete.
Ruto said the government has launched the Nairobi Rivers Regeneration Programme to clean-up the Nairobi and Ngong rivers and consequently end the pollution and contamination of Thwake Dam.
“Because of the pollution in Nairobi, the water downstream in Thwake had traces of contamination,” he said.
Through the bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women, Dr Adesina said $177 million has been provided in loans to more than 3,000 women businesses in Kenya.
To tackle youth employment, the AfDB boss said the bank is providing $309 million for ongoing projects for youth skills’ development.
“This includes the support for technical and vocational education that has already benefited 88,000 young people in Kenya,” he said.
Further, he said the bank is preparing for board approval financial support for the establishment of the Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank of Kenya.
“This will be a stand-alone financial institution fully dedicated to providing technical assistance, debt and equity financing for businesses of Kenyan youth,” he said.
Present were Vice Chief of Defence Forces Lt-General John Omenda, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, and Attorney General Dorcas Oduor.
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