Kenya sets out plan to provide electricity to all

6 Dec 18

Kenya has announced plans to provide universal access to electricity by 2022 in partnership with the World Bank.

In its ‘roadmap’, the government has identified options for bringing electricity to households and businesses throughout the country to help national and county policymakers when make investment decisions.

This includes the role played by off-grid options, mini-grids and stand-alone solar systems that complement grid extensions and intensification. The plan also highlighted the “crucial role” of the private sector.

Charles Keter, cabinet secretary at the Ministry of Energy in Kenya, said: “Tremendous achievement in scaling up connectivity has been made over the last few years. Total access to electricity now stands at 75%.

“However, there was a need to come up with a new National Electrification Strategy to deal with the challenges of bringing the entire country under electrification in an economically viable manner.”

The World Bank highlighted that universal access to electricity is a key requirement if Kenya is to meet its development goal of becoming a newly industrialised and middle-income country by 2030.

“Kenyan households and businesses will need competitively-priced, reliable, safe and sustainable energy to deliver on its big four agenda priorities: affordable housing, manufacturing, food security and universal healthcare,” it said.

According to the World Bank, 1 billion people in the world lack access to electricity, most of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

“Under the business-as-usual scenario, as many as 700 million people will continue to live without electricity in 2030 and 90% of them will be in sub-Saharan Africa,” the bank said.

 

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