Kenya’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector has suffered a significant blow after the African Development Bank (AfDB) withdrew Sh335 million.
The cash was meant for a flagship modernisation programme, blaming persistent implementation failures rooted in government bureaucracy.
The withdrawal exposes deeper institutional weaknesses that undermined a project launched in 2015 with a total AfDB commitment of Sh7.2 billion. The programme was designed to upgrade 33 public TVET institutions over five years by improving infrastructure, equipping workshops, training tutors and expanding scholarships for needy students to support youth employment.
In its project completion report, the AfDB pointed directly to delays within the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury, saying slow contract approvals and prolonged disbursement processes crippled execution timelines.
CONTRACT EXECUTION
“The red tape in the Ministry of Education, together with the National Treasury, was instrumental in the slowed processing of disbursements, leading to delayed contract execution,” the bank said.
Those delays proved costly. AfDB noted that the full African Development Fund (ADF) allocation of UA 41 million could not be absorbed within the project lifespan, forcing the bank to cancel the unutilised Sh335 million. The decision reflects AfDB’s stricter enforcement of project timelines amid growing pressure to ensure value for money across its African portfolio.
While parts of the programme delivered measurable gains, they fell short of original ambitions. By closure, 544 tutors had been trained against a target of 600, while scholarship support reached 3,000 students, meeting enrolment goals. However, infrastructure upgrades lagged sharply behind schedule.
FUNDING CUT
Only 10 of the planned 33 institutions were fully equipped with engineering and applied sciences workshops, with two additional facilities still under construction when the project ended. Key components such as hostels, modern equipment and specialised training spaces were either partially completed or never delivered.
The funding cut now threatens the sustainability of those gains. Scholarships and learning resources remain at risk, while the capacity of TVET institutions to absorb growing demand for technical skills is constrained by inadequate facilities.
UNDER-EQUIPPED
AfDB warned that without fresh financing and structural reforms to streamline procurement and disbursement, Kenya’s TVET sector will remain under-equipped at a time when demand for skilled labour is rising sharply.
The episode underscores a recurring challenge in donor-funded public projects: ambitious design undermined by weak execution. For Kenya, it also raises uncomfortable questions about whether existing bureaucratic systems can support large-scale education reforms without costly losses.
