In March 2020, The Standard reported on a joint project of four partners for Kenya's arid and semi-arid regions. The German firms Boreal Light GmbH and atmosfair gGmbH planned to team up with Water Kiosk Ltd and the Bilal Sustainable Development Programme to build 40 solar-powered desalination units in ten water-stressed counties. The project was worth 435 million Kenyan shillings. Boreal Light chief executive Beheshti called it the largest solar desalination project in East Africa. Arusha, Tanga and Dodoma in Tanzania were also set to benefit.
The report showed that small solar-powered desalination units were being planned in larger numbers for dry parts of East Africa at the time, backed by German and Kenyan partners.