AKDN | Infrastructure Development

We seek to bring sustainable, clean and safely managed water and sanitation services to the communities which we serve. We aim for every household to have a tap in their home or yard with WHO-quality standard water, and safe, private sanitation facilities. We have implemented over 1,000 infrastructure projects to build safe water and sanitation systems that serve more than 600,000 people.

We work with communities and governments to address issues of access, supply, quality, behaviour and long-term water security, in order that the infrastructure meets local needs and is sustainable in the long term. Our Water and Sanitation Extension Programme in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan provides technical expertise, non-local materials, training and education. Communities are engaged in the design, operations and maintenance of the systems, contributing to maintenance and upkeep fees. Over 850 committees currently manage the schemes. In India, we work with households and schools on health and hygiene education, provide designs and technical assistance to construct and improve sanitation facilities, and promote better solid waste management. We have developed a compendium of sanitation technologies detailing innovative solutions and systems. These are adapted to different urban and rural contexts and promote circular economy solutions.

Water Management

We are also working to analyse and share information on the current state and future projections of water resources, for example, with a digital app in India and a groundwater modelling system in Syria. This enables communities to conserve and manage their supplies, aided by awareness activities and sustainable solutions such as household-level rainwater harvesting.

We have helped establish 6,800 irrigation channels to improve the management and crop yields of over 220,000 hectares of land for smallholder farming households across Tajikistan, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

We have developed and rehabilitated over 1,800 roads, covering nearly 12,000 kilometres. These increase the mobility of some of the most remote communities in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan and reduce the time spent travelling to access markets and services. We have built 520 bridges, connecting these communities across rivers and frontiers.

Azito Power in Côte d’Ivoire is the largest private-sector power plant in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of the most powerful and efficient thermal power plants in Africa. It generates more than a third of the electricity production in Côte d’Ivoire, exporting electricity to neighbouring countries.

Before AKDN established Pamir Energy, only 13 percent of households in Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan, received 12 hours of electricity per day. Businesses closed in winter and residents often resorted to using wood fuel, causing respiratory illnesses and deforestation.

Pamir Energy now provides 24/7 energy for 96 percent of its population, with tariff subsidies for the poorest. The company uses hydropower and solar power, winning the Ashden Award for excellence in sustainable energy. It exports surplus energy to Northern Afghanistan to give rural communities electricity for the first time. Find out more: Pamir Energy in Tajikistan

The Bujagali hydropower plant is one of the largest independent power plants in sub-Saharan Africa. It supplies a substantial proportion of Uganda’s energy. The resulting access to reliable, affordable and clean power has improved the investment climate as well as daily life.

The West Nile electrification project, also in Uganda, provides a renewable source of energy in an area where only one percent of the rural population of 1.4 million previously had access to electricity. Hospitals and schools have benefited from the reliable, clean energy supply.

We have also supported the generation of 47.8 megawatts of energy across Central Asia through the construction of micro-hydro power plants and solar solutions, such as solar pumps and lighting. Our clean energy investments over the past decade have helped reduce pressure on natural and man-made forests, contributing to saving more than five million trees.

AKDN launched the telecom company Roshan (Hope) in Afghanistan in 2003 to provide a communications service that would drive the economy as well as improve individual quality of life. Today it is the country’s single largest private investor and taxpayer, contributes approximately five percent of domestic revenue and indirectly employs more than 35,000 people. In 2021 Roshan had 6.5 million subscribers.

In the late 1990s, mobile service in Tajikistan was limited to some urban areas and it cost US$ 1,000 for a handset. AKDN and MCT established Tcell to spark competition, improve service, expand into unprofitable rural areas, provide employment and build local management ability. Tcell now offers coverage to over 90 percent of Tajikistan’s population, has three million subscribers and accounts for 37.5 percent of the market share.