Energy

• Underlining the appeal of Kenya’s renewable energy sector to foreign investors, several new projects and deals have been announced in 2023 to date, focused on geothermal and wind power. Adding to the positive outlook, the government, in February, lifted a near 18‑month suspension on the licensing of new independent power producers (IPPs) in a bid to boost generation capacity.
• Kenya’s reliance on renewables for roughly 90% of its power needs—and the aim of lifting this to 100% by 2030—is helping to attract climate change mitigation financing from global sources. The main power-sector weaknesses...
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In 2022 sales of solar energy kits reached a record breaking 9.5 million units, almost one million more than the 8.5 million units sold in 2019 demonstrating a bounce-back from COVID. Industry leaders in particular have contributed to the growth in sales needed to achieve this. Successful programmatic support, notably result-based finance schemes, have also been a key enabling factor. Finally, new companies joining the data collection contributed to a limited extent to the jump in sales compared to the previous reporting round. TV, refrigeration unit and solar water pump sales all grew compared to the first half of the...

Gendered access to water and energy is an important factor in determining outcomes and opportunities in households. This paper sought to measure gender differences in access to water and energy and examine how this affects wellbeing of women and men. To measure well-being, a multi-dimensional poverty index was computed with dimensions covering: standard of living, economic engagement, education and health. A logistic regression methodology was followed to predict the well-being of an individual based on gendered access to water and energy. Two separate models were tested for men and women. The results show that women’s well-being is disproportionately adversely affected...

The energy sector is a crucial enabler to economic growth in many countries. Consequently, there are a number of private firms, governments and development partners who are heavily investing huge amounts of money on energy projects. Due to the nature of these projects, few foreign firms have the requisite resources and technical capacity to handle mega energy investments. In most cases, local firms lack capacity to undertake the projects. Additionally, as countries exploit resources they have, they are mindful of the gains the local communities would accrue from energy projects in terms of skills and technology transfer, employment and building...