In April 2017, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported that Kenya's Mombasa County intended to send a request for proposals to five shortlisted firms in May 2017. Two plants were to be procured under a BOT model: 130,000 m³/day in the north and 30,000 m³/day in the south. Nine companies had registered interest. Fatma Awale, the minister responsible for water and natural resources, outlined the plans on 24 April 2017 at the Global Water Summit. Funding was to come through a public-private partnership.
The report showed that coastal regions in East Africa were also turning at the time to large, privately financed desalination plants under BOT models to expand their water supply.