This note looks at a series of interventions undertaken by the Government of Kenya, with support from the World Bank and other development partners, to improve access to commercial finance in the water and sanitation sector. It describes recent sector reforms and innovative financing initiatives and draws lessons from interventions supporting utility and community water service providers in accessing finance for infrastructure investment.

Rethinking Smart Urbanism is an empirical exploration of the multiple ways in which cities and infrastructures are constructed and reconstructed through ICT innovation and appropriation. Drawing on the case of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, the study explains existing infrastructure constellations through countervailing processes and rationalities in the context of splintered urbanism. In doing so, the study examines the relationship between urban plans and digital infrastructure development, place-based contexts that shape digital infrastructures, and the extent to which these infrastructures facilitate utility companies’ ambitions of extending centralized networks to new territories. It draws on the theoretical and empirical base of urban and infrastructure studies, particularly in the fields of smart urbanism, postcolonial urbanism, and Science and Technology Studies. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative research design and presents in-depth case studies that combine ethnographic methods with a thorough investigation of written sources. Ultimately, it is hoped to enhance our understanding of urban and digital possibilities, and add new insights to debates on technology and urbanity in Africa and beyond.

Water utilities are the main instrument for countries to achieve universal service coverage. In pursuing universal service coverage, water utilities have turned to pro-poor water services to extend water services in low-income areas. This thesis discusses the use of pro-poor water services by water utilities in Kenya, with the intention of highlighting the dimensions of the approach that require attention of policy makers and practitioners when engaging with the concept. Based on the analysis of the technologies, financial and organisational arrangements associated with the pro-poor concept, this thesis shows that the use of pro-poor strategies allows water utilities to reduce the risks of servicing low-income areas while still claiming to fulfil their mandate of providing access to all in a commercially viable manner. The analysis also shows that rather than a decision of the water utility, the choice for pro-poor strategies emerges as the result of a consensus or compromise between the different actors that constitute the broader institutional environment in which water utilities operate. The thesis concludes that while pro-poor water services may serve the interests of water utilities and other stakeholders, in the absence of well-directed subsidies and proper monitoring they will not result in low-income households benefiting from more affordable and reliable access to water.

The Kenyan population is highly concentrated in urban centres, leading to increased social, economic and environmental strains, with a significant percentage of urban dwellers living in sprawling slums. Urban development is increasingly a major focus, especially in the fight against urban sustainability problems. There is little practical orientation in the academic literature for the growing gap between the rich and poor. Current literature is enormously concerned with resource use and environmental pressures, paying scant attention to the nexus between urban sustainability and empowerment of the urban poor. This book initiates debates on the segment of urban population often referred to as "the bottom of the pyramid (BOP)", by analysing the microfinance innovation following evaluation of the impacts of access to microfinance and financial training and the implications to urban sustainability in Kenya. The main conclusion reached is that microfinance has an instrumental role to play in promoting sustainable urban development as it supports social welfare improvement and increases the livelihood of participants, business development and urban sustainability to a certain extent, thereby empowering the urban poor in contributing to poverty alleviation.