Innovative finance facility presented at water conference in Nairobi, Kenya
During the annual conference of the African Water Association (AfWA), new approaches to Dutch-Kenyan cooperation have been discussed.
One of the new approaches is the Kenya Innovative Financing Facility for Water (KIFFWA) that is to provide early stage capital and finance expertise in support of viable water investment opportunities.
The KIFFWA facility is currently being set up by the Netherlands Water Partnership with funding of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nairobi, which will result in a local entity in Kenya.
The 18th conference and exhibition of the African Water Association (AfWA) took place from 22 to 25 February.
It was opened by Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta (see left on top photo). The event was attended by about 1,500 delegates from 81 countries, and 500 exhibitors representing 120 countries.
One of the sessions at the AfWA conference where the Kiffwa initiative was discussed.
Appropriate finance
The Dutch delegation participated in several sessions in the conference, it became clear once again that finding the appropriate finance opportunities for water projects is a challenge that is hard to tackle.
The Dutch delegation spoke about possible solutions through the KIFFWA programme in several sessions at the AfWA conference.
The Dutch embassy in Nairobi supports KIFFWA because the traditional approaches are not always efficient anymore. Since Kenya is a country that is developing quickly, and development cooperation with the Netherlands will be phased out from 2019, there need to be new ways to support water projects financially in a sustainable way.
Holland pavilion at the AfWA conference.
Credit-worthy projects
KIFFWA-manager Joris van Oppenraaij at Netherlands Water Partnership said on the occasion of the conference: “The KIFFWA programme will help the water sector in developing bankable and credit-worthy projects, and on the other hand it will mobilize capital from the financial market."
According to Van Oppenraaij the aim is to have a local KIFFWA operator on the ground in Kenya by 2017, which will to help bring 15-30 projects to ‘financial close’.
KIFFWA is to become a self-sufficient organization and therefore seeks refunding at financial close.
Holland pavilion
A Holland pavilion at the AfWA-conference represented several parties working in the field of drinking water projects: Akvo, Aqua for All, Vitens Evides International and Water Forever.
These Dutch organizations presented innovative approaches to drinking water provision, monitoring and financing.
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● Big leap for prepaid water in Kenya: WaterForever wins two tenders, 12 December 2014
● Project: Financial Inclusion Improves Sanitation and Health in Kenya
● Project: Innovative Sanitation Value Chain for the Unsewered Urban Poor in Kenya
● Country: Kenya
More information
KIFFWA programme
c/o Netherlands Water Partnership
The Hague, the Netherlands
+31 70 304 3700
www.kiffwa.org
and
18th African Water Association congress and exhibition
www.afwacongress2016.org