Co-operative Bank of Kenya received the Leadership in Water Infrastructure and Finance Award at the Africa WaterCredits Forum 2026 on Friday, October 16, held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Nairobi.

The accolade recognises the bank’s Co-op A Maji programme, which provides customised loans for water storage tanks, solar-powered pumps, boreholes, meters, pipe connections and water-sewage tanker trucks to utilities, small firms and households.

Organisers said the award reflects a sustained effort rather than a single transaction, noting that the product has placed the bank among Kenya’s top financiers of water-related services, including supply, latrine emptying, metering and sanitation infrastructure across urban and rural areas.

In November 2024 the bank entered a KSh500 million partnership with Aqua for All, Water.org and the Water and Sanitation Services Provider Association to fund at least 15 medium-scale water projects that could serve more than 50,000 people.

Earlier this year the bank showcased its water-sector equipment leasing and asset-finance model at the Stockholm International Water Institute’s World Water Week.

A market assessment by KfW listed the bank among a limited set of lenders showing conditional interest in water-sector lending, observing that financing is available but few projects are ready to absorb it.

Group Managing Director Gideon Muriuki said the award highlights the importance of innovative financing to meet Kenya’s pressing water and sanitation needs and that Co-op A Maji demonstrates the bank’s long-standing focus on inclusive growth and community livelihoods.

The award comes as Kenya’s water sector struggles with losses of almost half of its treated supply and a financing gap estimated at roughly KSh466 billion, according to a Netherlands embassy water report.

The Water Ministry reports that about 44 per cent of treated water is lost through leaks, illegal connections and billing failures, costing utilities over KSh10 billion annually.

The sector requires an estimated KSh995 billion of investment but is likely to mobilise only KSh529 billion, leaving the KSh466 billion shortfall, while access to basic drinking water stood at 68 per cent in 2022/23 and urban sewerage coverage at 32 per cent.

Each Kenyan currently has access to roughly 405 cubic metres of freshwater per year, a level below the threshold for water security.