President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged African countries to embrace low cost green energy for the continent to realise its development goals.
The President said was reaping dividends from reduced cost of electricity, with the investment targeting to light up 70 per cent of homes in the country by the end of 2017.
“Kenya is determined to lowering the cost of living, raising productivity and scaling up business opportunities through green energy investments,” President Kenyatta said.
He was speaking when he led a panel discussion on “The Path to Universal Access to energy in Africa by 2025” at the African Development Bank (AfDB) annual meeting in Lusaka Zambia.
The President told the panel that Kenya
has discovered that power infrastructure remains an important component for driving business and production.
“Kenyan children work better and longer since they study under electricity lights and do not have to rely on kerosene lamps," he said.
The Head of State informed the meeting that Kenya has overcome its energy deficit by
raising geothermal and other renewable energy to more than two-thirds of the entire supply.
“Kenyans have cheaper energy now and yet we still preserve our very rich natural heritage for those who come after us,” he said.
Last year, Bloomberg New Energy Finance ranked Kenya among the top 10 countries in the world that have made significant investments in renewable energy.
Within two and a half years, the Jubilee Administration increased power generation from 1,765 to 2,319 megawatts.
With a demand of 1,585MW as at
January 2016
against a production capacity of 2,319, the country has for the first time in history seen a good margin of reserve energy, he said.
The President lauded Kenya's partnership with Japan for scaling up geothermal projects.
He acknowledged the support of other development partners in the Lake Turkana wind power project - a Sh70 billion venture launched on July 2, 2015.
The wind power project located at Sarima in Marsabit County is billed to be the largest in Africa and will produce 310 MW of electricity to be fed into the national grid before the end of 2016.
Power from LTWP that will cost Sh842 per KW is expected to further drive down the cost of electricity in the country.
With the increased supply of energy, President Kenyatta said his administration has connected power to virtually every school.
“That might not seem a big deal until you remember the research showing that connecting a household to electricity nearly doubles the amount of time its children spend on their education,” the President said.
He emphasized that the continent must strive to ensure
every African has access to a reliable supply of green energy.
“For every African, cheap energy means health and food, education and production that match our energy and innovation,” the Head of State said.
While speaking on the same issue, Rwanda President Paul Kagame said African leaders have shown their commitment to invest in green energy but more needs to be done.
“We are not moving as fast as we should in the production of green energy but there is hope
today
that we can do better tomorrow,” President Kagame said.
AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina assured the leaders that his bank will continue to provide preferential funding to Africa’s green energy projects.