The Kenyan government has received US$ 415m from donors for the last mile project that will help in the connection of electricity to approximately one million homes in the country.
Kenya Power which is an electricity distribution company confirmed the reports and said that the government has already secured US$ 415m for the last mile project and an additional US$ 128m is expected this month subject to board approvals from respective donors.
In regard to the first phase of the project, the African Development Bank (AfDB) had already given out its funds as promised; this is according to reports from Kenya Power. Furthermore, World Bank has also issued US$ 148m through the International Development Association (IDA) under the Kenya Electrification Modernization Project to light up 312,500 homes.
The boards of French funded Agencie Francaise Development (AFD) and the European Union (EU) has as well approved US$118m funds that will connect an additional 230,000 homes.
“The AFD board approved its fraction in December 2015 while EU board’s approval was done in January 2016. We are now waiting for the signing of the loan agreement which is expected in April 2016,” the Kenya Power report indicated.
The Last Mile Connectivity Project comes with a change of approach at how electricity connections are done in Kenya. Whereas citizens used to make applications with long procedures in the past, now Kenya Power and the Rural Electrification Authority will ask Kenyans by visiting their homes to allow them to connect their households to electricity.
Kenya Power agencies will ensure that all households that are located near electricity transformers are connected to power whether the owner makes an application for power connection or not.
Kenya Power owns and operates most of the electricity transmission and distribution system in Kenya and sells electricity to over 2.6 million customers.
