Media Room

We are proud to announce the successful completion and handover of the Ololo Dam Desilting and Rehabilitation Project to Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS).

Ololo Dam, a critical and previously seasonal watering point in the Southwestern side of the Nairobi National Park between the Kingfisher Swamp and the Mokoyiet Drift dried up in the protracted drought of 2023. Prior to this project, animals were forced to trek long distances around and outside the park boundaries to find water. This contributed to the threat of human-wildlife conflict and destabilized the park’s delicate ecological balance.

Marking the occasion, our Group Executive Director and I&M Foundation Trustee, Sarit S. Raja – Shah was joined by I&M Bank CEO Gul Khan, and James Gatere, Head of I&M Foundation, Capt. Michael Nicholson, KWS Director, Partnerships and Enterprise, among other guests, and partners at the unveiling ceremony.

With the worst drought Kenya had faced in 40 years occurring in 2023, animals were not spared from the impact of dried watering points, often succumbing to the disastrous effects unseen. Most animals resorted to finding water in and around human residences, increasingly coming into conflict with humans and further bringing tension to an already untenable situation.

Caption: Ololo Dam at the Nairobi National Park

Aligned with our sustainability agenda, I&M Bank committed to financing this project through the I&M Foundation, with an emphasis on the preservation of local ecosystems. The project, valued at Kes 1.15 million commenced on September 12, 2023, but faced technical challenges which led to a brief hiatus in October 2023. However, the initiative resumed in December when Ganatra Plant & Equipment generously donated a JCB excavator to support the undertaking, seeing to a successful completion in January 2024.

I&M Bank and I&M Foundation are committed to addressing Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks through holistic interventions with the understanding that our success is intricately linked to that of our host communities.