The Coca-Cola Foundation and The Nature Conservancy have partnered to support Nairobi Water to increase water access to 800,000 people in Nairobi.
Philip Githinji, of Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC), confirmed that, through support from The Coca-Cola Foundation and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), they have reduced their water treatment costs by 30%, allowing them to expand their network to reach over 800,000 of Nairobi’s residents.
A pilot investment of Ksh. 15.2 million by The Coca-Cola Foundation, followed by a larger investment of Ksh. 126 million enabled the establishment of The Upper Tana-Nairobi Water Fund in 2015. Since then, The Water Fund has resulted in well over 100 million Litres of water being added to Nairobi’s water system per day.
The network extensions were handed over to Fred Kihara, TNC Director of Water Funds, by Duncan Kimani, Manufacturing Director of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, at Thika Dam, Ndakaini. The partnership between The Coca-Cola Foundation, NCWSC and TNC is part of the Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN), the Coca-Cola program which aims to reach six (6) million people across the continent with improved access to safe water by the end of 2020.
Mr. Kihamba remarked, “we are grateful for the partnership of Coca-Cola and The Nature Conservancy, and for the hardworking farm owners of Ndakaini, and the watershed. Today, over 100MM Litres per day flow into our water system that were not present before The Nairobi Water Fund; we look forward to what we can achieve together going forward.”
The increase in quality source water has come as a direct result of the work completed by The Upper Tana-Nairobi Water Fund, Africa’s first water fund. The Tana River provides Nairobi with 95% of its water and the Fund works to protect Nairobi’s water supply by increasing the amount of clean water which flows through the rivers and streams that make up the Tana Water Basin.