Kenya to benefit from more than Sh712b earmarked for Horn of Africa

Kenya is among key beneficiaries of a $8 billion (Sh712 billion) financial support pledged by global and regional institutions.

The announcement was made in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia during a historic trip by the world leaders to the Horn of Africa to pledge political support and new major financial assistance for countries in the region.

The funding is meant to boost economic growth and opportunity, reduce poverty, and spur business activity across eight countries in the Horn of Africa covering Kenya, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, as well as the President of the Islamic Development Bank Group and high-level representatives of the African Union Commission, the European Union, the African Development Bank, and Intergovernmental Agency for Development (IGAD) are combining forces to promote stability in the Horn of Africa.

In a statement Monday, the Bank pledged $1.8 billion (Sh160.2 billion) to the kitty, and said it would be released over the coming years.

“This new financing represents a major new opportunity for the people of the Horn of Africa to make sure they get access to clean water, nutritious food, health care, education, and jobs,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

“There is greater opportunity now for the Horn of Africa to break free from its cycles of drought, food insecurity, water insecurity, and conflict by building up regional security, generating a peace dividend, especially among young women and men, and spurring more cross-border cooperation.”

Leading the trip to the Horn of Africa, Ban Ki-moon said: “These countries are making important yet unheralded progress in economic growth and political stability. Now is a crucial moment to support those efforts, end the cycles of conflict and poverty, and move from fragility to sustainability.”

“The UN is joining hands with other global and regional leaders to ensure a coherent and coordinated approach towards peace, security and development in the Horn of Africa.”

The EU also announced that it would support the countries in the region with a total of around $3.7 billion until 2020, of which about 10 per cent would be for cross-border activities.

The African Development Bank announced a pledge of $1.8 billion over the next three years for countries of the Horn of Africa region, while the Islamic Development Bank committed to deploy up to $1 billion in new financing in its four member countries in the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda).

The Horn is diverse, with some of the fastest growing economies and huge untapped natural resources. However, it also has many extraordinarily poor people and populations that are now doubling every 23 years.

Unemployment is widespread among growing numbers of young people. Women, in particular, face huge obstacles because of their gender, including limited land rights, limited education, and social customs that often thwart their ability to pursue economic opportunity, and improve living conditions for their families and communities.

Corruption

Countries in the region are also vulnerable to corruption, piracy, arms and drug trafficking. Terrorism, and related money flows are significant and interconnected threats in the Horn of Africa. People-trafficking is also a growing problem in the region.

However, there are commendable efforts being made through regional cooperation in parts of the Horn to tackle the root causes of these problems. The new financing announcement will support those efforts and comes on the first day of the trip led by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, to discuss peace and security.

The World Bank Group said its new $1.8 billion packaging, which is in addition to its existing development programs for the eight countries, would create more economic opportunities throughout the region for some of the most vulnerable peoples, including refugees and internally displaced populations and their host communities.

Wars and instability have generated more than 2.7 million refugees along with over 6 million internally displaced people. The Bank Group will also help the region build up its communicable disease surveillance, diagnosis and treatment capacity.