A new power plan, The Last Mile Connectivity Project, is expected to benefit 1.57 million additional consumers of electricity in low income areas. This follows the signing of an agreement between the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Government of Kenya.
The Sh11.9 billion-project whose implementation will target residents within 600-meter radius of the existing 35,000 distribution transformers spread across the country, will providing electricity access to 1,571,000 people.
AfDB Regional Director for the East Africa Resource Centre (EARC) Gabriel Negatu said that the Last Mile Connectivity Project would allow increasing electricity access in Kenya and improve the quality of life of the residents even as it promotes businesses, hence contributing to economic growth.
“Over the past five years, the AfDB has approved a total of US$712 million (Sh64 billion) of financing for projects in the energy sector for generation, transmission, distribution systems, rural electrification and regional power interconnections. The signing of the Last Mile Connectivity project will bring the total investments in the energy sector to approximately USD 844 million (Sh76 billion).”
The low level access to electricity is impeding economic development and the provision of basic social services in the region including Kenya. The rural areas consume biomass, including fuel-wood for cooking and lighting consequently, degrading forests leading to deforestation. The project will enable to reduce deforestation and increases access to modern energy services and reliable supply, which is in line with AfDB’s Energy sector policy (2012) encouraging the transition to green growth path.
Its support to the electricity sector in Kenya is in line with its current 2014-2018 Country Strategy which is articulated around greater focus on infrastructure investments, including energy. The Bank’s intervention also aligns with Kenya’s long-term development blueprint Vision 2030, specifically the priority areas of the Medium Term Plan (MTP II) 2013-17, which includes infrastructure development.
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