2030 Water Resources Group and Kenya Join Forces to Close Gap Between Water Supply and Demand
PRESS RELEASE
Nanyuki water and sewerage company is a corporate entity with the mandate of providing water, harvested from Likii Central River, and sanitation services within Nanyuki Municipality and its environs on self sustaining basis where water.
Copenhagen, 7 June, 2016 —The 2030 Water Resources Group (2030 WRG) today announced a partnership with Kenya at the Global Green Growth Forum (3GF) Summit in Denmark. The 2030 WRG is a unique public-private-civil society collaboration that aims to close the gap between supply and demand in water-stressed developing countries.
Without urgent action, the gap between global water supply and demand is projected to reach 40 per cent by the year 2030. In Kenya, taking a “business-as-usual” approach to managing its water resources will result in an almost 30% gap between water supply and the water required to meet the country’s development needs. Several areas central to Kenya’s economy, such as the Athi River Basin, are already feeling the effects of water stress.
The partnership between 2030 WRG and Kenya will allow for collaboration on a number of key areas:
expanding access to finance for efficient irrigation; catalyzing partnerships in water stressed catchments; and replicating best practices in urban and industrial water efficiency.
“Ensuring a safe and abundant supply of water is vital to transforming Kenya into an industrialized middle income country,” said Eugene Wamalwa, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Water and Irrigation. “This partnership with the private sector and civil society will help generate solutions to secure water for future generations. A problem shared is a problem halved and solved.”
“Water is everyone’s lifeblood,” said Vimal Shah, CEO of Bidco Africa, one of Kenya’s leading manufacturers and marketers of consumer goods. “Agricultural processes account for 70% of global water use, so it’s imperative that we address water management in the agribusiness and manufacturing sectors. It is only through ambitious, collective efforts, such as the 2030 Water Resources Group partnership with Kenya, that we will deliver action at the scale needed to address the challenge.”
“The value of energy efficiency is now well known in the industry in Kenya. Water is the next challenge,” said Phyllis Wakiaga, CEO of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers. “Even more than energy, water requires strong engagement between the public and private sector to find solutions where it lacks or where there’s wastage, and this partnership is an important step in that direction.”
“Across the globe, WRG partnerships are helping push the water resources agenda to the forefront of high-level national debate,” said Anders Berntell, 2030 WRG Executive Director. “In Kenya, the appetite for such discussions, and the interest in exploring new approaches is very impressive. This will be critical to ensure Kenya’s sustainable development.”
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About 3GF
3GF forges international public-private partnerships with the goal of designing and accelerating solutions to intractable problems relating to green growth. It culminates in an annual summit, which is hosted by the Danish Government in collaboration with the governments of China, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mexico, Qatar, Vietnam and Korea. The summit convenes 250-300 global leaders from governments, international organisations, leading businesses, the financial sector and civil society. The theme of this year’s summit is, “A Call to Action – Enabling Solutions at Speed and at Scale.”
Press contacts:
- Alida Pham, Global Communications Lead, apham@ifc.org, +1 202 603 2535
- Joy Busolo, Country Representative Kenya, jbusolo@ifc.org, +254 722 226504
Resources:
- See the Kenya 2030 WRG partnership film on YouTube
- See selected stills from the video for download on Flickr
- See the Kenya Global Media backgrounder – 2030 WRG