Finland to inject Sh264 million in lake basin projects

Last Updated 15 years ago by Kenya Engineer

Finland’s aid to Kenya was frozen in 2009 following the unrest after the 2008 elections and reported corruption at high levels of Government but in 2011 and 2012 some limited aid was forthcoming mainly for poverty reduction and re-forestation projects. The announcement that Finland is to inject Sh264 million to help the East African Community to market the Lake Victotia region as an investment hub is very welcome news.

Juhani Toivonen, the Finnish Ambassador to Tanzania said the money will be disbursed in three instalments with the first Euro 800,000 being released early this year another Euro 600,000 in 2012 and the final instalment of Euro 700,000 in 2013.”Lake Victoria is one of the economic engines of the region and one of the priority areas for Finland support to the EAC integration,” said Mr Toivonen. National Investment agencies in the region have since December last year stepped up campaigns to market the numerous untapped resources in the Lake Victoria basin to potential investors.

Officials of the Kenya Investment Authority, Tanzania Investment Centre and Uganda Investment Authority say the region has great potential for investors seeking to develop tourism facilities, fish processing plants, luxury transport facilities and rich mineral resources. According to the EAC Secretary General Juma Mwapachu the lake and the basin boasts a wealth of $40 billion and directly supports about 35 million East Africans.

“Immediate beneficiaries of a developed Lake Victoria basin will be the surrounding communities who have remained poor over the years because they lacked capacity to exploit its resources,” said Mr Shella Yieke a general manager of Kenya Investment Authority.

The EAC Secretariat has recently partnered with national communications firm Ayrtel to build a security system to monitor all vessels on Lake Victoria in a campaign targeting growing criminal activities.

Apart from the watch towers the project, financed by the African Development Bank also seeks to set up a search and rescue operations working on a 24 hour basis.