AfDB Places KEEPS Construction Under 12-Month Compliance Order After Fraudulent Practice

Under the sanction, KEEPS and its affiliates remain eligible to participate in projects financed by the Bank, with continued eligibility dependent on meeting the integrity requirements set out in the decision.

The African Development Bank Group has placed KEEPS Construction Company under a 12-month conditional non-debarment, requiring the Somaliland-registered contractor to complete an integrity compliance programme to retain access to Bank-financed projects. The decision follows an investigation into the company's conduct in a water infrastructure programme intended to strengthen communities' resilience and improve livelihoods. Under the sanction, KEEPS and its affiliates remain eligible to participate in projects financed by the Bank, with continued eligibility dependent on meeting the integrity requirements set out in the decision.

Investigation Establishes Fraudulent Practice

The Bank Group's Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption established that KEEPS Construction Company committed a fraudulent practice in connection with the Bank-funded Water Infrastructure Development Program for Resilience in Somaliland, Somalia. The announcement identifies the finding and the resulting sanction without detailing the specific conduct involved. The decision requires the company to undertake a corporate integrity compliance programme in accordance with the Bank's integrity guidelines, making compliance a condition of its participation in future Bank-financed work.

Water Programme Was Designed to Support Vulnerable Communities

The infrastructure programme was intended to strengthen the resilience of the water and sanitation sector, improve livelihoods and help the population cope with the effects of climate change. Its intended beneficiaries included rural communities across Somaliland and internally displaced people living in the peri-urban areas of Hargeisa and other cities. These objectives place the investigation within a development programme designed to support people facing difficult living conditions, although the announcement does not describe any specific disruption to services or consequences for beneficiaries arising from the company's conduct.

Continued Eligibility Depends on Meeting Integrity Conditions

During the 12-month conditional non-debarment period, KEEPS Construction Company and its affiliates, including Kafi Enterprise for Environment Protection and Sanitation (KEEPS), can continue participating in African Development Bank Group-financed projects, provided the company undertakes the required compliance programme. Failure to meet that requirement will convert the sanction into debarment with conditional release, making the company and its affiliates ineligible for Bank-financed projects until the release conditions are satisfied. The decision therefore gives KEEPS a route to retain eligibility through compliance, with exclusion from Bank-financed work as the consequence of failing to fulfil its obligations.