A dam at 94%: Thwake rises to bring water to 1.3 million Kenyans

At the meeting point of the Athi and Thwake rivers, on the Makueni–Kitui border, an 80.5-metre dam wall now stands 94.23% complete — built to hold back about 688 million cubic metres of water for one of Kenya's driest regions. On 15 October, African Development Bank officials walked the site at Wote and committed to financing what comes next: treated water supply, sanitation, irrigation and hydropower for about 1.3 million people across Makueni, Kitui and parts of Machakos, including the Konza technology city. The bank had already added KSh10.6 billion (about $82 million) to finish the main works after funding delays slowed construction for nearly two years. For households who plan their days around unreliable rain, the reservoir is the difference between hoping and knowing.

SDG 6 · Clean water and sanitation — Mechanism: infrastructure build