Approved in 2023, this project complements the ongoing UK Government efforts to address transmission network capacity limitations, reliability and quality of electricity supply, and high-power system losses, technical and non-technical, in Kenya.
The project will extend and reinforce the national electricity grid system, and the Last Mile Connectivity Program of the Bank. Addressing the transmission system gaps in the country is a prerequisite for achieving universal electricity access and improving the quality of life of communities through enhanced socioeconomic development.
Announced at COP26 in November 2021, R2RS is an innovative and highly scalable balance sheet optimization transaction that is helping the Bank lend more funding for critical climate change projects. Under R2RS, a $2 billion guarantee is provided to the Bank by the UK Government ($1.6 billion in cover) and City of London insurers ($400 million). By assuming a portion of the credit exposure on a part of the Bank’s sovereign portfolio, R2RS enables the Bank to provide up to an additional $2 billion of climate finance to Africa by 2027, split between adaptation and mitigation.
In May last year, the UK and the Bank announced the first two projects that were enabled by R2RS - an €80 million Egyptian wastewater project and a €37 million water sanitation project in Senegal. Both focus on water supply and sanitation and will benefit millions in their respective countries. This project in Kenya is one of five projects to benefit from the unlocked lending capacity provided by R2RS since the agreement was signed in 2022. This announcement accompanies three other beneficiary projects in Tunisia, Benin and Mauritius, bringing the total finance unlocked by the R2RS to over $400 million.