Britam Foundation Delivers Water, Health and Jobs, Impacting 92,000 Lives

Britam Foundation has unveiled its inaugural Impact Report, documenting how strategic investments across water access, maternal health, environmental restoration, and enterprise development empowered over 92,000 lives, and created 1,358 jobs since operations commenced in late 2024.

The Foundation’s water programme emerges as the flagship intervention, with solar-powered boreholes and hygiene education empowering more than 90,000 learners and community members, across 70 schools in four East African countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.

In arid counties like Kitui and Kajiado, where water scarcity forces children to trek kilometres, each day carrying heavy jerrycans, the Foundation’s rehabilitated boreholes now yield an average of 9,291 litres per day, eliminating operational costs for schools and freeing learners to focus on education. Students at schools like Mutendea Comprehensive in Kitui County and Olmapinu Primary in Kajiado now save an average of 5.9 hours per week previously spent fetching water, contributing to a 15.4 percent increase in school enrolment as attendance stabilizes and health improves. The Foundation has also established 21 school health clubs to promote hygiene education and system maintenance, ensuring long-term sustainability.

These outcomes arrive as Kenya grapples with persistent water insecurity. According to UNICEF, only 59 percent of Kenyans access safe drinking water, dropping to 56 percent in rural areas where Britam Foundation concentrates its work. Ministry of Water data show approximately 28 million Kenyans lack reliable access to safe water, forcing households to purchase from vendors at costs up to 52 times higher than piped utility rates. In schools, the burden falls disproportionately on girls, whose absence during menstruation compounds when water-fetching duties consume learning hours.

“Water is not philanthropy, it is development infrastructure,” said Tom Gitogo, Britam Group Managing Director and CEO.

“Our investment in solar water projects reduces operational burdens on schools, channelling scarce resources back into teaching and learning, thereby strengthening the future workforce. This is a deliberate loop, the more resilient and educated the community, the more stable our markets become.”

The Lea Salama Maternal Health Programme, launched in partnership with Carolina for Kibera and Malaica Science in Kibera, empowered 305 uninsured expectant mothers, in one of Nairobi’s most underserved informal settlements. Ninety-seven percent of enrolled mothers achieved skilled deliveries, with an average of six antenatal visits per mother, double the national median. Ninety-four percent of programme households reported lower pregnancy expenses, while 97 percent of mothers brought infants for first vaccinations, exceeding national immunisation coverage targets.

The programme directly addresses Kenya’s maternal mortality crisis. Government data show 355 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births nationally, translating to approximately 5,000 preventable deaths annually. In informal settlements like Kibera, where Britam Foundation operates, the mortality ratio climbs to 706 per 100,000, nearly double the national rate. Ministry of Health statistics attribute 80 percent of maternal deaths to poor quality of care rather than access alone, underscoring the Foundation’s prevention-first model combining community health workers, digital health platforms, and facility-based deliveries.

Dr Peter Munga, Britam Foundation Board Chair, framed the work as institutional necessity rather than corporate goodwill. “Our stability is intrinsically linked to the stability of the communities we serve,” he said.

“By driving progress across our pillars of Health, Education, Environment, and Entrepreneurship, we ensure that Britam’s legacy is measured not only by our returns, but by the resilience we build into the very fabric of society.”

Environmental restoration emerged as a substantial job creator. The Foundation’s partnership with Jumbo Charge Trust to reforest more than 444 acres of the Mt Elgon water tower, planted 86,000 indigenous trees while creating 1,358 jobs through seed procurement, nursery operations, and planting activities.

A total of 95,235 trees have been planted across the region through Britam Foundation’s Environment pillar.  were planted in the

Mt Elgon, one of Kenya’s five critical water towers, has forest cover below five percent, threatening water supply for three counties and downstream ecosystems feeding Lakes Turkana and Victoria.

The initiative responds to Kenya’s dual climate and employment crises. World Bank projections warn that climate change could push an additional 43 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa into poverty by 2030 without urgent adaptation investments.

Domestically, Kenya’s forest cover stands at 8.8 percent, below the constitutional 10 percent threshold, while the country experiences intensifying droughts and floods.

Simultaneously, Kenya’s NEET rate, youth Not in Education, Employment, or Training, sits at 15 percent for those aged 15-24, representing over 2.9 million young Kenyans disconnected from both skills-building and livelihood opportunities.

The Foundation supported 105 businesses – local nurseries – which supplied trees to the Mt Elgon project.

These efforts align with data from the Kenya Labour Market Information System showing 89 percent of youth employment occurs in the informal sector, where business support infrastructure remains weak.

According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics labour force reports, youth unemployment hovers between 12-18 percent depending on measurement methodology, with women facing NEET rates of 19 percent versus 11 percent for men, a disparity the Foundation’s women-focused enterprise programmes directly target.

“At Britam Foundation, we believe that true impact is measured not by intent, but by lives changed and futures secured,” said Catherine Karita, Britam Foundation Director. “Over the past year, our work has intentionally bridged our four pillars, recognizing that sustainable change happens when solutions address multiple dimensions of human wellbeing at once.”

The Foundation operates with full transparency on funding sources and implementation partners. Its water programme partners with Davis & Shirtliff for solar borehole installation and maintenance. Maternal health services deploy through partnerships with Carolina for Kibera and Malaica combining clinical care with digital health platforms and community health worker networks. Environmental restoration proceeds through Jumbo Charge Trust, which maintains established relationships with Community Forest Associations and county forest management authorities.

The Foundation’s programmes align with multiple Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 3 on Good Health, SDG 4 on Quality Education, SDG 6 on Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG 8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 13 on Climate Action.

This alignment reflects deliberate design choices that connect corporate investment to global development frameworks while responding to locally identified needs.

The Foundation operates through a structured funding model whereby Britam Holdings PLC commits 1% of annual profit after tax to community investment, embedding social impact into core financial planning.

Read Also: Britam Foundation To Plant 200,000 Trees in Mt Elgon Restoration Plan