Kenya’s National Irrigation Authority (NIA) has signed a project development agreement (PDA) with UK-based consortium GBM Minerals Engineering Consultants for the High Grand Falls dam project.

In a Facebook post, the NIA said that the project is one of the 100 megadams planned for execution as part of its guiding bottom-up economic model principles.

It will be constructed at the confluence of the Mutonga and Tana rivers. On completion, the dam will stretch over an area of more than 165km².

The High Grand Falls dam is expected to have a capacity of 5.6 billion cubic metres, which is expected to be adequate to irrigate approximately 400,000 acres of land in the area.

Under the PDA, final project studies and designs will be carried out prior to conducting an assessment, taking a resolution for the contract award via a public-private partnership model, funding the completion and concession agreement.

Ground mapping, technical/financial and economic feasibility, geological drilling, environmental and social impact assessment, risk assessment, and other analyses will be conducted over six months.

These activities will be performed by the British investor and will help determine the actual scope of project works.

The project is projected to be valued at approximately Ks425bn ($2.88bn).

Spanning over the Tana River, dam construction works are expected to commence by the end of 2025.

Last month, the country announced its plans to begin the development of a $13.8bn high-speed electric railway connecting its Lamu Port to South Sudan and Ethiopia.