African Development Bank to Assist Kenya in Development of Infrastructure and Human Resources

African Development Bank Group has approved a new five-year Country Strategy Paper (CSP) for Kenya that focuses on boosting private sector-driven growth through infrastructure development, strategic reforms, and human capital development.

African Development Bank to Assist Kenya in Development of Infrastructure and Human Resources

By Abdi Ali
Published February 9, 2024

African Development Bank Group has approved a new five-year Country Strategy Paper (CSP) for Kenya that focuses on boosting private sector-driven growth through infrastructure development, strategic reforms, and human capital development. African Development Bank has approved a new five-year Country Strategy Paper (CSP) for Kenya that focuses on boosting private sector-driven growth through infrastructure development, strategic reforms and human capital development.

“Our support, within the context of the new CSP 2024-2028, will be selectively focused on four sectors: transport, water, economic governance and skills development,” says Zerihun Gudeta Alemu, the Bank’s Chief Country Economist in Kenya.

To boost growth, the African Development Bank’s interventions will target reducing transport costs and travel time, improving access to affordable water and sanitation services and increasing agricultural production capacity using irrigation to combat food insecurity in the country.

The Bank will also finance operations in the energy sector to bolster private sector development and reduce the cost of doing business. The expected primary outcomes include improving commute times for public-sector transport from 40 km/hour (2022) to 60 km/hour by 2028, as well as lowering transport operating costs from $0.85 to 0.50 per kilometre per vehicle and increasing industrial water treatment capacity from 1,000 m3 daily in 2022 to 6,000 m3 by 2028.

The Bank will support the Kenyan government’s projects that encourage the development of human capabilities in higher education institutions. The Bank’s operation will be designed to open investment prospects for transforming education and training by developing relationships between industrial sectors aligned with labour market needs.

In the long term, the number of young people and women with relevant skills for the labour market should increase, while the number of graduates from higher education institutions in employment is expected to reach 40 percent by 2028, compared with 10 percent in 2023. In addition, the number of sustainable businesses created by young entrepreneurs should increase from 500 in 2023 to 2,000 in 2028.