Three firms, including two based in Kenya, have been banned from all World Bank-financed projects for 21 months over fraud and collusion in a Ksh149.8 billion electricity scheme.
The World Bank announced the debarment on March 18, 2026, targeting PricewaterhouseCoopers Associates Africa Ltd., PricewaterhouseCoopers Limited Kenya, and PricewaterhouseCoopers Rwanda Limited for misconduct in a major regional energy project.
Both PwC Associates and PwC Kenya operate out of Kenya, making the ruling a direct blow to the firms’ ability to win government-linked and multilateral-funded contracts across the region going forward.
“The World Bank Group (Bank Group) today announced the 21-month debarment with conditional release of Mauritius-based PricewaterhouseCoopers Associates Africa Ltd. (PwC Associates), PricewaterhouseCoopers Limited, Kenya (PwC Kenya), and PricewaterhouseCoopers Rwanda Limited (PwC Rwanda), in connection with collusive and fraudulent practices as part of the Eastern Electricity Highway Project under the First Phase of the Eastern Africa Power Integration Program in Ethiopia,” stated World Bank.
President William Ruto with World Bank President Ajay Banga on the sidelines of G20 Compact with Africa Conference in Berlin Germany.
Photo
PSC
The scandal centres on the Eastern Electricity Highway Project, part of the Eastern Africa Power Integration Program in Ethiopia, a scheme designed to boost Kenya’s electricity supply while earning Ethiopia revenue from cross-border power exports.
According to the World Bank, the three firms obtained confidential procurement information from project officials in 2019 to improperly influence the award of a consultancy contract for Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation’s (EEP) financial reporting standards implementation.
According to the World Bank, the contract in question was no small deal because winning it would have handed the firms significant financial standing within one of East Africa’s largest power utilities, with far-reaching implications for how Ethiopia’s electricity sector was managed.
The firms were also found to have targeted a second contract, the Fixed Asset Inventory (FAI) and Revaluation deal for the Ethiopian Electric Utility, known as the EEU FAIR Contract, seeking to steer its award in their favour.
World Bank reveals that things got worse during the execution of that same contract. PwC Associates misrepresented the qualifications and availability of key experts and did not fully disclose all the subconsultants they brought on board.
“During the selection and execution of the EEU FAIR Contract, PwC Associates misrepresented the availability, qualifications, and employment status of key experts, and failed to fully disclose all subconsultants,” stated the World Bank.
Word Bank further added that all three firms signed a settlement agreement and admitted culpability for the sanctionable practices, an admission that helped shorten what could otherwise have been a much longer exclusion period.
In a bid to solve this dispute, these firms also took a series of voluntary remedial steps, including launching an internal investigation, acting against responsible staff, ending ties with all subconsultants involved, and halting bids for World Bank contracts during settlement talks.
A collage of World Bank President Ajay Banga and President William Ruto.
Photo
Forbes India
