AKDN AND
By providing technical expertise and financial means, the AKDN has been bringing the benefits of public works to poor areas for over 50 years. These efforts have encompassed the construction of small-scale infrastructure, but they also include bigger projects − such as large-scale power-generating plants and nationwide telecommunications − designed to overcome specific impediments to national progress.
The infrastructure projects, both small and large, include systems for potable water and irrigation; sanitation systems that improve health; roads and bridges that provide access to markets; hydroelectric plants that light homes and provide power for industry; and mobile phone networks that have helped restore national telecommunications. Today, they are often vital components of the overall quality of life.
MoreThe main AKDN agencies involved in infrastructure development are the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) and the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED).
AKF’s rural support programmes have made significant investments in micro, small and medium infrastructure that often complement the AKDN’s health and education initiatives, including irrigation canals, mini-hydropower plants, roads and bridges. These investments are intended to unlock the economic potential of often seriously isolated communities and regions in which AKF works. Highlights include: Support for more than 3,800 infrastructure projects that benefit nearly 1.2 million people in Pakistan; 5 bridges that connect Tajikistan and Afghanistan; and more than 1,800 infrastructure projects in Afghanistan.
AKAH brings together a number of activities focused on preparing for both sudden and slow-onset disasters. Building water and sanitation systems, for example, helps mitigate the risk of water-borne disease or other threats increasingly posed by natural disasters and climate change. AKAH priority areas include Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, the Kyrgyz Republic and India.
AKFED project companies have investments in infrastructure that encompass power generation (Azito Power in Cote d’Ivoire; Tsavo Power in Kenya; Pamir Energy in Tajikistan; and the Bujagali hydropower plant and West Nile electrification project in Uganda); and telecommunications (Roshan in Afghanistan; Indigo in Tajikistan; SMART in Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi).
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