The Covid-19 pandemic has seen the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) release their lending purse strings for Kenya in a trend that has seen Kenya net nearly Sh500 billion in a year.
The two Bretton Woods institutions have been announcing one loan approval after another in quick succession at a time when the National Treasury is faced with a serious cash crisis.
The latest loan came on Tuesday when the World Bank board revealed that it had approved an additional Sh14 billion ($130 million) to enable Kenya procure more vaccines via the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) initiative and the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) facilities.
It will also support the deployment of those vaccines by boosting Kenya’s cold chain storage capacity-including establishing 25 county vaccine stores, strengthening the capacity of 36 sub-county stores, and equipping 1,177 health facilities with vaccine storage equipment.
"This additional financing comes at a critical time when the Government of Kenya is making concerted efforts to contain the rising cases of Covid-19 infections and accelerate the deployment of vaccines to a wider population," said Keith Hansen, World Bank Country Director for Kenya.
"The upfront financing for the acquisition of Covid-19 vaccines will enable the government to expand access to more Kenyans free of cost."
Others financing
This is the second additional financing for the Kenya Covid-19 Health Emergency Response Project.
Together with the Sh1 billion ($10 million) triggered under the Contingency Emergency Response Component of the Transforming Health Systems for Universal Care Project, the World Bank’s contributions to Kenya’s Covid-19 response now stands at Sh26.3 billion ($246 million).
Earlier this month, on June 10 2021, the World Bank approved another Sh80 billion ($750 million) loan through the Development Policy Operation (DPO). The lender said the billions will be used to reinforce Kenya’s resilient, inclusive and green economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.
DPOs are used by the World Bank to support a country’s policy and institutional reform agenda to help to accelerate inclusive growth and poverty reduction.The lender said the money from the development policy financing would support policy reforms that will strengthen transparency and accountability in public procurement and promote efficient public investment spending.In April 2021, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) signed Sh257Bn (US$2.4 billion) loan for Kenya to be disbursed over a 38-month programme under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and Extended Fund Facility (EFF). Already Kenya has received a total of Sh78 billion from this […]
