High Grand Falls Dam, Africa’s second-largest freshwater dam, will begin construction next month at an estimated cost of around KSh425 billion. Peninah Malonza, Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of EAC, Arid, and Semi-Arid Lands, made the announcement recently.
This announcement comes about 7 months after two agreements for the project’s development were signed. One of the agreements was signed by Kenyan President William Ruto and the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The second deal, the Project Development Agreement (PDA), was signed in Nairobi’s Maji House by the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) and a consortium managed by GBM Engineering Consultants Ltd.
High Grand Falls Dam is a multifunctional dam designed for a 165-square-kilometer area encompassing Kitui, Tharaka-Nithi, and Tana River counties. Africa’s second largest freshwater dam, with a proposed capacity of 5,600,000,000 cubic meters (2.0×1011 cu ft), aims to provide water supply, irrigation development, river regulation, flood control, and power generation. The dam may serve multiple purposes, including water transfers across basins, fisheries, and ecosystem conservation and sustainability.
The High Grand Falls project is expected to be completed through a public-private partnership at an estimated cost of around KSh425 billion. GBM Consortium Limited, a British contractor, will fund, develop, construct, own, and manage the project for approximately 20 years to recoup its investment before transferring control to the Kenyan government.
