Kenya’s sustainable energy goals on track

Africa’s economies are surging. Six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies over the past decade were in sub-Saharan Africa.

If this growth is maintained, Africa’s GDP should triple by 2030. By then, the continent will be home to at least 1.6 billion people — one-and-a-half times as many as today.

If current energy access trends continue, half of these people will be without access to power or clean cooking facilities.

Seen from space, the continent after nightfall is mostly unlit. More than a century after the invention of the light bulb, schoolchildren often cannot read after dusk, businesses cannot grow, clinics cannot refrigerate medicine or vaccines, and industries are idle.

With a sixth of the world’s population, the continent generates just 4 per cent of global electricity although the continent is blessed with enormous resources of energy.

Africa has decided that this will not be its future. The continent has taken the lead in responding to the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative launched by the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in September 2011.

African countries make up more than half of the 84 nations that have signed on to the initiative that aims to achieve universal access to durable modern energy by 2030.

ADOPT PLAN

This week, Kenya will become the second country in the world, after the Gambia, to adopt a national action plan to guide its implementation of the initiative.

Over the past year, with assistance from the SE4ALL Africa Hub, the country has been working to address gaps in its policy, regulatory, and legal framework inhibiting investment in renewable energy.

These efforts have culminated in the development of two key documents, an action agenda and an investment prospectus. The two documents will be adopted at a workshop scheduled for 12 and 13 March in Nairobi.

The action agenda outlines the various actions that Kenya will put in place to achieve the set goals in renewable energy resources, energy access, and energy efficiency projects and to create conducive environment for investment, while the investment prospectus highlights priority projects proposed by stakeholders.

Despite government initiatives to improve electricity access in rural areas, which have brought power to more than 23,000 public facilities in the past five years, just a third of households have access to electricity.

And though much of Kenya’s installed electricity generating capacity comes from renewable sources, especially hydropower and geothermal, it represents a tiny proportion of the country’s true potential. These documents will be the key to unleashing that potential.

As the process now turns towards implementation of the National Action Plan, the continued engagement of the private sector in developing and implementing the identified projects cannot be gainsaid. Neither can the involvement of civil society and community groups in ensuring that all Kenyans benefit from the development of renewable resources.

With renewable energy increasingly powering its growth, Kenya will continue to be a shining example for the rest of the continent.

Its demonstrated commitment to implementing the SE4ALL initiative will light the path for other countries to follow as Africa moves towards a brighter future for its citizens.

Prof Elmissiry is head of Nepad Energy. [email protected].