The Kenyan government has initiated a comprehensive process to assess whether the Ksh21 billion ($165 million) Second Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Project (KISIP2) has successfully delivered value for money and meaningfully transformed the lives of residents in informal urban communities.
In a formal procurement notice issued on Tuesday, August 18, the State Department for Housing and Urban Development announced that it is actively seeking an independent consultant or firm to conduct a rigorous, multi-faceted evaluation of the expansive project.
The upcoming audit will comprise a Value for Money Assessment, a Beneficiary Assessment, and a thorough End-of-Program Evaluation. These reviews will cover all infrastructure and institutional interventions financed jointly by the World Bank and France’s Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
As KISIP2 rapidly approaches the conclusion of its implementation lifecycle, the government wants to establish a clear, data-driven picture of its overall performance. According to the procurement documents, the independent evaluation will look closely at whether the project achieved its core development objectives, generated tangible, long-term benefits for target communities, and successfully strengthened local and national institutional capacities for sustainable urban upgrading.
​The project was originally approved by the World Bank board in 2020. The financing structure relied heavily on a $150 million (approximately Ksh19.4 billion) International Development Association (IDA) credit, complemented by a $15 million (approximately Ksh1.9 billion) counterpart funding commitment from the Government of Kenya. Subsequently, the French development agency AFD bolstered the initiative by providing an additional co-financing package of €45 million (about Ksh6.9 billion at current rates).
​Designed with ambitious scopes, KISIP2 aimed to scale up infrastructure development, improve socioeconomic living conditions, increase access to basic services, and enhance tenure security across participating informal settlements. It was also structured to fortify the government’s strategic planning and implementation framework for managing urban growth.
​The current project directly builds upon the foundations laid by the first Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Project (KISIP1), which rolled out across 15 urban centres spanning 14 counties starting in 2011.
​KISIP1 focused heavily on foundational pillars, including physical infrastructure deployment, tenure regularization, institutional strengthening, and comprehensive urban planning. According to past performance evaluations by the World Bank, the inaugural phase positively transformed the day-to-day lives of approximately 1.39 million people living in informal settlements.
During the first phase, authorities regularized land tenure in 80 distinct settlements, while targeted infrastructure investments—such as all-weather access roads, storm-water drainage networks, water supply systems, sanitation facilities, and high-mast security lighting—were deployed across 36 informal settlements in 11 urban centres.
The State Department of Housing and Urban Development expects the incoming independent consultant to deploy robust qualitative and quantitative methodologies to engage directly with local communities, county officials, and national stakeholders.
By capturing the voices and experiences of the actual beneficiaries, the final evaluation report will not only ensure strict accountability and transparency for the multi-billion-shilling expenditures, but it will also provide vital lessons and policy recommendations for future urban development initiatives in Kenya and the wider East African region.
