ADFD gives Dh36.7 soft loan to Kenya

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) has signed an agreement with the government of Kenya whereby it provides an Dh 36.7 million soft loan to the African country to provide electricity to its rural areas. The agreement was signed by the Acting Director General of ADFD, Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, and the Financial Secretary at the Kenyan National Treasury, Mutua Kilaka. The loan will be used to provide electricity to more than thirty five thousand households in sixty two area of twenty four Kenyan provinces. Electrical grids will be constructed as part of the project which will serve some 591 commercial areas across Kenya. According to Al Suwaidi, in his remarks following the signing ceremony, providing sufficient supplies of electricity through the project will directly boost Kenya's different economic sectors and attract domestic and foreign investments to the targeted areas. ADFD has provided the loan to Kenya on directives from the UAE wise leadership to make an effective contribution to the process of development in developing countries, to help them overcome economic difficulties and improve the performance of their economic sectors and create more job opportunities. For his part, Secretary Kilaka hailed the role of the government of Abu Dhabi in bolstering cooperation between the UAE and Kenya, and in boosting development in his country. He noted that the new electricity project for rural areas will help reduce congestion in major Kenyan cities. ADFD activity in Kenyan began in 1985 and has provided two loans worth Dh58 million to support the country's transport system. The fund also managed two governmental grants to worth Dh12 million build the Sheikh Zayed Child Care Centre. The loan which was announced yesterday takes up the total of the ADFD's loans to Kenya, and the grants it runs in the African country, to Dh106 million. – Emirates News Agency, WAM