NAIROBI, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Wednesday launched a 330 million shillings (about 2.37 million U.S. dollars) fund to boost access to water in the country.
Alice Wahome, cabinet secretary for the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, told journalists in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, that the money will be loaned to small scale water service providers without the need for collateral.
"The fund is expected to finance projects that will provide access to water for about 200,000 people across Kenya," Wahome said in a speech read on her behalf by Kimathi Kyengo, director of Sanitation Management and head of Development Cooperation at the ministry.
Kyengo revealed that the fund will enhance the creditworthiness for water service providers in urban and rural areas.
He noted that the financial support uses a revenue-based solution in order to address the lack of collateral which is a major hurdle in the water sector.
Angela Kimani, acting director of Licensing, Standards and Advocacy at the Water Services Regulatory Board, said that currently 70 percent of the population has access to clean water in the country.
Kimani noted that the fund will also help reduce the country's water infrastructure financing gap. ■
