The 2015 Powering East Africa conference, which took place from 25-27th this month at the Windsor Golf and Country Club, Nairobi, Kenya was a total success as it saw challenges of opening up East Africa’s power sector for investment being addressed and solutions being given.
About 100 senior level decision-makers and investors flocked the event designed to discuss how to break transmission deadlock and open up East Africa’s powering sector for more ventures.
The closed-meeting saw a number of important topics being discussed: some of them included the critical role transmission must play in East Africa’s industrialization, the role of power utilities, how best to overcome financing obstacles, and how the cost of regional borrowing can be lessened by unlocking the transmission deadlock.
Speaker of the Senate, Hon. Ekwee Ethuro who graced the occasion, said East Africa as a region needs to explore other sources of energy like renewable energy to reduce the cost of production, supply and transmission. “This is the right time to light East Africa by removing all the barriers in transmission including reduction of tariffs and connecting consumers to the grid,” he added.
The Powering East Africa 2015 conference was guided by a theme ‘breaking the transmission barrier’ and dignitaries present were ministers, utilities –Kenya Power, Umeme, Tanzania Electrical Supply Company and industry regulators from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Zambia who connected with international financiers, power developers and investors to focus on what is needed to unlock investment in transmission for regional growth and development.
