It will improve access to electricity for households, social infrastructure and micro, small and medium-sized businesses.
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group approved, Wednesday, November 29, 2023 in Abidjan, a loan of 101.10 million euros to Kenya to implement the third phase of the Last Mile Connectivity Project. It will improve access to electricity for households, social infrastructure and micro, small and medium-sized businesses.
The project will also benefit from a loan of $13.17 million (12.12 million euros) from the Canada-African Development Bank Climate Fund (CACF), a special fund administered by the Bank, which grants concessional loans in the long term to projects to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change.
The Last Mile Connectivity Project – Phase III is one of the priority interventions of the African Development Bank Group’s Country Strategy Paper (CSP) 2019-2023 for Kenya. Its implementation extends over six years (2024-2029).
“The Bank’s support will make it possible to build energy infrastructure in order to improve the access of households, public institutions and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to an adequate, reliable and affordable energy supply, which which will create an enabling environment for the realization of Kenya’s Vision 2030,” said Nnenna Nwabufo, Managing Director of the African Development Bank Group for East Africa.
“The Bank’s operation will support the action of the national authorities which aims to provide access to electricity to all Kenyans,” added Ms. Nwabufo.
The Last Mile Connectivity Project — Phase III complements the excellent results achieved during the implementation of the first two phases, which respectively connected more than 1.05 million and nearly 1.6 million people to the network.
The project involves strengthening the electricity network through the construction of 13 33/11 kV substations, including associated network extensions and distribution network in 45 of the country’s 47 administrative counties, in order to connect a total of 139,480 households to the network, which will allow nearly 543,972 people (274,651 women and 269,321 men) to have access to electricity. In addition, 10,521 micro, small and medium enterprises and social infrastructure (23 educational institutions, 15 health institutions and 8 water supply facilities) will be connected to the electricity grid for the first time.
This will replace polluting fossil fuels and biomass fuels, such as charcoal and unprocessed agricultural residues.
The project will create jobs and business opportunities, and improve service delivery in the education and health sectors. At least 1,150 temporary jobs will be created during the construction phase, followed by 52,605 permanent jobs linked to the 10,521 MSMEs which will be newly connected to the network. In the long term, the project will improve the well-being and productivity of society, which will promote the socio-economic development advocated by Kenya’s Vision 2030.
The project will also contribute to the clean energy transition by expanding access to electricity to enable households and MSMEs to switch to cleaner and sustainable energy sources. The project will notably reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 3,440 tonnes per year of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Kenya had, as of June 30, 2022, 3,074.34 MW of installed electricity capacity, with 77% of the population having access to electricity, a rate higher than the sub-Saharan African average, estimated at 50 %. The government aims for universal access to electricity by 2030 at the latest.