Thwake Dam’s contribution as an icon for Africa’s growth, evolution and modernity

INDEPTH

The AU Agenda 2063: 
By Godffrey Olali

Even as Africa pushes its socio-economic agenda in the competitive global platform, multipurpose dams are expected to play a critical role in championing continent’s sustainable development and propel it towards strategic investments.
Development of hydropower systems in Africa – through constructions of dams as key contributors - features prominently in the infrastructure development plans of the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs),  as well as the regional power pools (RPPs).
One of African Union's (AU) Agenda 2063 goals aims to ensure availability and access to sustainable water and sanitation for all Africans. To achieve this, the AU has developed a Water Investment Action Plan to help African countries achieve this goal, and mega water facilities like multipurpose dams, are identified as key cogs that will catapult this vision.
According to a 2007 report by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) titled; Dams and Agriculture in Africa, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where irrigated agriculture is least developed. It further notes that a paltry 3.5 per cent of its cultivated area is irrigated, against 42.2 per cent in South Asia and 33.6 per cent in the Near East nations like Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syrian Arab Republic and Turkey and North Africa region.
“If irrigated production is to make a significant contribution to food security and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa, it will have to be restructured across the region as a whole,” reads the report. 
In a webinar organized by the Oxford University’s Martin School in 2014, titled; Africa Dams and Development, dams seem to promise an appealing package of benefits to meet Africa’s development needs – they can reduce floods, store water for irrigation, provide energy for burgeoning populations and facilitate regional integration.

Kenya’s Water, Sanitation and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Eric Mugaa, has reiterated that a shift from reliance on rain-fed agriculture will make Kenya more food secure, create more employment and drive the country’s economic growth. 
“The Ministry has also unveiled several key projects aimed at addressing the water scarcity crisis through construction of dams. Particularly strategic projects like The Horn of Africa Groundwater Resilience Program, will be a mega game-changer in terms of provision of sustainable ways for accessing water to far-flung communities,” says Eng. Mugaa.
The Ministry is closely implementing some of the AU Agenda 2063 strategic missions in water development. The AU Agenda 2063, has equally rolled out key strategies that will enable it achieve its mission in providing water to communities in Africa.
For example, the AU Agenda 2063’s Water Investment Action Plan advocates for mobilization of at least $30 billion annually by 2030 to support water security and sanitation, implementing the Continental Africa Water Investment Programme (AIP), closing the gaps in water investment in Africa Water and sanitation goals, ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern water and sanitation, ensuring equitable and sustainable use and management of water resources and addressing systemic challenges that deter investors, such as governance and finance gaps. 
The AU has also developed frameworks to promote infrastructure development, such as the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), a framework for Irrigation Development and Agricultural Water Management in Africa Water security.
The Water Investment Action Plan will help African countries achieve water security by partnering with the United Nations to develop actionable pathways to mobilize investment in water.
During a past interview in his office, Makueni Governor H.E Mutula Kilonzo Jnr, said that Makueni County’s proximity to national infrastructure projects like the highways and railways is a big game-changer in terms of market proximity and Thwake Multipurpose Dam will be a critical conduit for development. The dam is being constructed at the borders on Makueni and Kitui counties.
“You can’t create a city without sustainable water. Major cities in the world that are doing well in terms of tourism and other infrastructure development have sustainable water systems. As a country, we must get serious about water,” he noted.
Indeed, Kenya’s 23 out of 47 counties, including Makueni, are considered arid or semi-arid. Malnutrition linked to insufficient rain and failed harvests remains a grave issue in most of these areas. Close to 850,000 children aged between 6 and 59 months in these arid and semi-arid counties are still in need of treatment for acute malnutrition, according to a recent report by the National Drought Management Authority.
The people of Kenya’s Lower Eastern regions depend upon agriculture for food and income generation. But climate change is a major challenge – for example, a 2016 climate risk profile of Makueni by the agriculture ministry found maize yields had declined since 1994.
The profile indicates that in 2013, 60-90 per cent of crops failed in Makueni, largely due to drought. 
His position is also supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB) Director General in charge of East Africa Operations, Ms. Nnenna Nwabufo, who also indicated that water is an important element for economic growth and Kenya and Africa as a whole, adding that most countries in sub-Saharan Africa - Kenya included - have had a long history of drought. 
“Services that Thwake Multipurpose Water Development Program will provide, are expected to go alongside boosting water supply for entities such as Konza Techno City – a world-class ICT infrastructure Project being developed in Kenya. 
According to analysts, construction of Thwake Multipurpose Water Development Program will propel achievement of the Agenda 2063 of the African Union. For example, development of hydropower generating system with an installed capacity of approximately 20 MW will boost hydroelectric power – which the AU Agenda 2063 heavily advocates for. 
Further, the Project’s other phase is expected to see development of water supply, sanitation and wastewater infrastructure to supply estimated 150,000 m 3 /day of treated water to approximately 1.3 million people drawn from the rural and urban areas of Kitui and Makueni Counties and Konza Techno City in Machakos County.
Hydropower has a specific weight in Africa’s growth and development. Actually, water and energy remain the central focus for the continent’s most new projects. It is further estimated that around 92 per cent of the technical hydropower potential across Africa has not been developedd.