Kenya’s capital, Nairobi City is among 14 municipalities and local authorities that will benefit from a Ksh 598.5 million ($4.5m) fund by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to improve the quality of life in African urban areas.
Under the Urban and Municipal Development Fund (UMDF), the first tranche amounting to Ksh 66.5 million ($500,000) will be utilized on improving the quality of urban governance.
According to the multilateral lender, the fund will launch a capacity-building and consulting programme to improve municipal finances and solvency in six large pilot cities in Africa including Nairobi, Dakar, Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Kigali and Lagos.
AfDB says he aim is to maintain the support programme for municipalities and help them identify and access new sources of public and private finance.
“These projects have been selected because of their potential impact, their ability to change the daily lives of millions of African citizens living in urban areas, but also because of their inclusive dimension and the benefits they bring for combating and adapting to climate change,” said Mike Salawou, Director of the Infrastructure and Urban Development Department at the AfDB.
Another Ksh 119.7 million ($900,000) will target urban planning and will help extend the African Cities Programme to six new cities in addition to 13 already benefiting.
“This programme involves the design of effective urban action plans and identifying priority investment projects worthy of support from donors including the African Development Bank,” said the Bank.
The remaining Ksh 372.4 million ($2.8m) will be used to accelerate the upgrade of urban infrastructure across various fronts.
The money will finance preliminary studies for projects such sewerage and water drainage in Maroua (Cameroon), sewerage networks in Accra (Ghana), drinking water treatment in the Cairo region (Egypt), coastal works in Nouakchott (Mauritania) and climate-resilient infrastructure planning in Cape Town (South Africa).
