Africa Development Bank Sets Priority to Donor Funded Projects

Africa Development Ban Sets Priority to Donor Funded Projects

The African Development Bank (ADB) has called on the government through it’s ministries to make sure that a quick and timely implementation of various projects in the country which have already been funded, especially by the donor community.

The bank’s East Africa Regional Director Gabriel Negatu said that a delay in the execution of these projects may hinder Kenya from achieving the benefits of vision 2030.

Some challenges facing the projects include extended procurement processes, delay in release of funds and lack of clarifications on the existing projects.

According to Negatu, it is important for the country to move quickly towards the implementation of the existing programmes once they are financed. He further said that in the past, a number of countries have delayed for various reasons and Kenya is not an exception.

According to the report released by the TransparencyInternational in June , some of the major hindrances for the opportune implementation of various government programmes are poor planning, corruption, delays in payment, lack of proper payment procedures and Information Communication Technology in the procurement processes.

Negatu argues that international donors should also keep track of the projects to also ensure transparency by demanding regular audits during and finalization of the projects.

“Sometimes our own processes can be lengthy. So we should make sure that they are friendly, easy to understand in that the implementing partners should fully know what is expected of them. This will enable us to reduce the time it takes, to procure, disburse the funds and finish the project,” Negatu continued.

Negatu was speaking during the signing of a Sh77 million grant to support the ‘Scaling up of integrated rainwater harvesting and management in semi-arid districts of Kenya’.

The project is to be implemented by the Kenya Rainwater Association and will include the construction of communal earth dams and school roof catchments tanks, school sanitary facilities, farm ponds, tree and vegetable nurseries among others.

The project which is expected to start in January is expected to benefit 15,000 pastoral and agro-pastoral communities with close 3,000 schools.