The World Bank has disbursed $ 750 million (80.2 billion shillings) to Kenya, bringing the global lender’s loans to the country in the past year to 1,098 billion shillings.

Since the country recorded its first case of Covid-19 in March of last year, the Washington-based institution has now given Kenya nearly 304 billion shillings, which has increased its debt stock by nearly ‘a third.

At the end of March last year, World Bank loans were estimated at 801.2 billion shillings, but they have since climbed to 1.1 trillion shillings, according to official data.

The money will be used to support Kenya’s development programs, including the fight against Covid-19 and the overhaul of loss-making Kenya Power to connect more people to the national electricity grid.

Kenya, which has just read its budget for fiscal year 2021-2022, will also use the funds to increase accountability in public spending and reduce opportunities for corruption, the World Bank said in a statement yesterday.

Cost savings

World Bank Country Director for Kenya Keith Hansen said the support also strengthens public investment management by seeking cost savings and ensuring value for money for all projects undertaken by Kenya.

Both measures, he said, are expected to generate budget savings of up to $ 2.6 billion (Sh 278.2 billion).

“The operation prioritizes reforms in hard-hit sectors, such as health, education and energy, which have been made urgent by the impacts of the Covid-19 crisis,” Hansen said. .

The money will also be used to set up an electronic public sector procurement platform that aims to make government procurement of goods and services transparent.

In his budget speech on Thursday, Cabinet Secretary of the National Treasury Ukur Yatani said December 31 would be the deadline for deploying the electronic public procurement system and stopping manual procurement processes. markets.

“In this regard, the government will achieve savings through greater efficiency, reduced operational costs, increased transparency and accountability through increased participation of bidders,” he said.

Money from the World Bank, known as development policy finance, will also be used to bolster Kenya’s green economic recovery after the Covid-19 crisis.

“In recognition of the gravity of the crisis and the need for a comprehensive response, we support the government’s post-Covid-19 economic recovery strategy, which is designed to mitigate the negative socio-economic effects of the pandemic and accelerate economic recovery and achieve higher and sustained economic growth, ”said Hansen.

The political operation also prioritizes energy sector reforms to improve access to electricity and ensure Kenyans benefit from clean energy sources at lower cost.

In addition, the new policy framework will help strengthen Kenya Power’s finances with a new competitive pricing regime.

Kenyans will also benefit from better health care, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable households, thanks to governance reforms of the National Hospital Insurance Fund and the establishment of the Kenya Center for Disease Control to strengthen prevention, detection and disease response.

The reforms will further seek to provide Kenyans with more equitable access to higher education, through a performance-based method of funding in order to reduce the imbalances and inefficiencies created by the existing funding model for universities.