The World Bank has revealed that it had approved an additional Sh14 billion (US$130 million) loan for the country Covid-19 Health Emergency Response Project for the purchase of vaccines.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund(IMF) have been announcing one loan approval after another at a time the government has been working hard to secure foreign funding to fill the huge budget deficit before its financial year closes at the end of this month.
The money will be used for vaccine safety surveillance, training of health workers and advocacy and communication activities to encourage the Covid-19 vaccine uptake.
“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 funding will also support deployment of vaccines by boosting the country’s cold chain storage capacity.
Earlier this month, the World Bank approved Sh80.9 billion loan to the country to support post-Covid-19 economic recovery.
The loan disbursement was part of the World Bank’s Development Policy Operations (DPO), which lends cash for budget support instead of financing specific projects.
According to Hansen, the operation prioritizes reforms in hard hit sectors, such as healthcare, education, and energy, which have been made urgent by the impacts of the Covid-19 crisis.
“In recognition of the severity of the crisis and need for a comprehensive response, we are supporting the government’s post Covid-19 economic recovery strategy, which is designed to mitigate the adverse socioeconomic effects of the pandemic and accelerate economic recovery and attain higher and sustained economic growth,” he said.
Some of the funds were to go towards setting up an electronic procurement system for government goods and services to improve transparency.
