Remarks · 19 February 2025
Dr. Qimiao Fan, World Bank Country Director, Kenya; Distinguished Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen;
It is a great pleasure to join you today for this milestone event, one that brings us a definitive step closer to fulfilling a fundamental promise to the people of Kenya: achieving universal electricity access by 2030. Today, we sign contracts worth over KSh10 billion to extend electricity to communities that have remained on the fringes of development for far too long.
The 14 contracts signed today will establish 113 mini-grids, bringing electricity to the counties of Turkana, Marsabit, Samburu, Isiolo, Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River, Lamu, Kilifi, Kwale, and Narok. This marks a significant expansion of Kenya’s growing energy revolution.
Additionally, six contracts will ensure that 343 public health facilities, schools, and administrative offices are connected to electricity through stand-alone solar systems at a cost of KSh 438 million. A further 316 solar water pumps for boreholes, worth KSh1.6 billion, are in the final stages of procurement, ensuring that electricity not only lights homes but also powers essential services.
Today’s event is more than just a contract signing; it is a reaffirmation of our unwavering commitment to inclusive development. It sends a clear message that no Kenyan, regardless of location or background, will be left behind in our nation’s progress. Our mission is to extend modern, reliable, and affordable electricity to every home, school, and business, from the most remote villages to the busiest urban centers.
This is the foundation of our development agenda, firmly anchored in Vision 2030 and the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, ensuring that every citizen has access to opportunity, progress, and dignity.
Kenya has made remarkable strides in electrification, increasing access from 29% in 2013 to 75% today, positioning us among the leading nations in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, this progress has not been uniform. While electrification has advanced in urban centers and along major transport corridors, vast rural areas remain in darkness.
For communities far from the national grid, solar power offers the most practical, cost-effective, and immediate solution. That is why the government, in partnership with the World Bank, is implementing the Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project (KOSAP).
This initiative is about more than just power; it is about transformation. With electricity in health facilities, vaccines and essential medicines will be safely stored, ensuring life-saving treatments reach those in need. With electricity in schools, our children will benefit from longer study hours, better learning environments, and greater opportunities to excel. With power in homes and businesses, we will unlock new economic opportunities, support small and micro-enterprises, and create jobs, turning villages into vibrant hubs of commerce and innovation.
Distinguished guests, through the Last Mile Connectivity Programme under Kenya Power, 1.2 million customers have already been connected, with another 460,000 set to benefit by 2026. Through REREC, we have connected 63,000 out of 93,000 identified public facilities, including 22,900 public primary schools. This work continues, with 1,071 public facility projects completed in the 2023/24 financial year and another 1,450 currently underway in the 2024/25 financial year.
Beyond expanding access, we remain committed to achieving a 100% clean energy grid by 2030. Diesel-powered stations are being hybridised with solar PV systems, and plans are underway to install an additional 8MW of solar power in Wajir County. In Lodwar, we are taking a bold and decisive step by shutting down the diesel power plant operated by Kenya Power and extending the national grid instead. This includes constructing 100km of 66kV power lines and a substation at a cost of KSh900 million.
These projects are clear statements of intent. We are reducing our dependence on costly and polluting diesel power, cutting energy costs, and reinforcing our climate commitments while enhancing access. We will neither rest nor relent until every household, school, business, and health facility in Kenya has reliable and affordable electricity.
To the contractors signing these agreements today, I urge you to deliver on time, with quality, and with integrity. To our leaders governors, MPs, and community representatives - I ask for your full support in ensuring these projects succeed and deliver tangible benefits to our people. I thank you.