Kenya is in talks with a consortium led by GBM Minerals Engineering Consultants Ltd. to build one of the continent’s biggest water reservoirs on a public-private partnership.
(Bloomberg) — Kenya is in talks with a consortium led by GBM Minerals Engineering Consultants Ltd. to build one of the continent’s biggest water reservoirs on a public-private partnership.
The High Grand Falls dam will have an estimated volume of 5.6 billion cubic meters, enough to irrigate about 400,000 acres (161,870 hectares). The consortium that includes Mota-Engil SGPS SA, PJA Ltd. and Turkey-based Kolin will also install a hydro-electricity plant to generate about 1,000 megawatts, according to Kenya’s principal secretary for irrigation, Ephantus Kimotho.
At an estimated cost of 425 billion shillings ($2.88 billion), it will be Kenya’s biggest infrastructure project after a $5 billion Chinese-built railway. Kenya will award the group a 30-year concession so it can recoup its investment, according to Vincent Kabuti, acting Irrigation Secretary.
The dam will cross Kenya’s longest river, Tana, and construction is scheduled to begin by the end of 2025. The reservoir will help address the “perennial challenges of food security, domestic water and power,” according to a statement.
President William Ruto government plans to tap private capital to build 100 dams to ease pressure on the nation’s already strained finances.
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