Kenya 'needs PPPs to meet energy challenges'

22 December 2009

The Kenya Investment Authority has said the country needs to develop alternative energy sources - and it needs public private partnerships (PPP) to do this.

Managing director Susan Kikawai urged investors to focus on localised solutions and technology to help the country meet its clean power demands.

Cost was a major obstacle in facilitating the necessary transition from fossil energy to greener alternatives - and a PPP coupled with technology transfer could be what Kenya needs to meet its new goals, she was quoted by East African Business Week as saying.

"Our private sector ... can partner and use our research institutions to see how we could develop our own solutions to protect the environment," Ms Kikawai added.

The government has been requested to provide economic instruments such as subsidies to encourage the development of these types of energy sources and the investment in water treatment facilities.

Kenya recently decided to use its own funds to invest with Ethiopia in an electric link between the two countries, Addis Fortune reported.

Category: Energy