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Nairobi to tap into African Development Bank's multi-billion funding resources

Participants at the Africa Investment Forum in Marrakech, Morocco on 9 November 2023. (Photo: X/Johnson Sakaja)

By City Correspondent | Sunday, November 12, 2023

The Nairobi City County Government will also seek to tap into more than US$ 2 billion in resources that ADB provides annually to fund projects and programs that directly impact African urban areas.

The Nairobi City County Government has confirmed plans to tap into financial resources at the disposal of African municipal institutions from the African Development Bank.

The funding resources, which the Nairobi County Government intends to tap into, include a US$ 50 million Municipal Trust Fund recently announced by the Continental Development Bank.

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Speaking from Marrakech, Morocco on Thursday, where he is attending the Africa Investment Forum, a consultative initiative of the African Development Bank, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja said the county will present several bankable projects for financing consideration under the Municipal Trust Fund.

He added that the Nairobi City County Government will also seek to tap into more than US$ 2 billion in resources that ADB provides annually to fund projects and programs that directly impact African urban areas.

Other cities keen on tapping the financial resources include Kigali, Addis Ababa, and Dakar, among others who were represented at the High-Level African Mayoral Event and engaged in a discussion themed: Financing for African cities.

“The African Development Bank has availed US$50 million towards its Municipal Trust Fund and US$2 billion towards developing cities in Africa,” Sakaja said.

“While in Morocco, we also had fruitful engagements with ADB leadership, and its President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has pledged to prioritise bankable projects in Nairobi. As part of my county government’s commitment to make Nairobi work, we plan to deliver bankable projects in urban sanitation and sewerage systems, waste management, infrastructure, financial inclusion, and climate change adaptation for ADB’s consideration.”

The Africa Investment Forum is a multi-stakeholder, multi-disciplinary platform that advances projects to bankable stages, raises capital, and accelerates deals to financial closure.

Its vision is to channel capital towards critical sectors to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the African Development Bank’s High 5s and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

Since its launch in 2018, the Africa Investment Forum has mobilised nearly $143 billion in investment interest. Its centrepiece is the annual three-day Market Days event.

It brings together thousands of global investors, heads of development finance institutions, and business and government leaders to advance critical investment transactions to closure.

Backed by ADB financial resources, the city of Nairobi in 2020 completed the Nairobi Outer Ring Road project thanks to $107 million in funding.

The project has resulted in the upgrade of a 13-kilometre stretch of carriageway. It included provisions for a future median bus rapid transit system.