• Underlining the appeal of Kenya’s renewable energy sector to foreign investors, several new projects and deals have been announced in 2023 to date, focused on geothermal and wind power. Adding to the positive outlook, the government, in February, lifted a near 18‑month suspension on the licensing of new independent power producers (IPPs) in a bid to boost generation capacity.
• Kenya’s reliance on renewables for roughly 90% of its power needs—and the aim of lifting this to 100% by 2030—is helping to attract climate change mitigation financing from global sources. The main power-sector weaknesses...
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This Strategic Plan is divided into five chapters. Chapter One gives an overview and background against which the plan was developed; the mandate of the Ministry of Energy; global, regional and national development challenges facing the energy sector; and the role of the Ministry of Energy in national development. In the course of the implementation of the second Medium Term plan, power generation grew from 1,634MW to 2,812MW while the number of households connected to electricity increased from 2.3 million to 7.5 million. The country’s access to electricity went up from 23% in 2013 to 75% with a projection to...

This paper presents results from the first randomization of a regulatory reform in the health sector. The reform established minimum quality standards for patient safety, an issue that has become increasingly salient following the Ebola and COVID-19 epidemics. In the experiment, all 1,348 health facilities in three Kenyan counties were classified into 273 markets, and the markets were then randomly allocated to treatment and control groups. Government inspectors visited health facilities and, depending on the results of their inspection, recommended closure or a timeline for improvements. The intervention increased compliance with patient safety measures in...

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) are abundant in Kenya comprising eighty percent of businesses, but their contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) remains limited. Increasing MSME productivity will drive economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic over the short term, and has the potential to unleash sustained economic growth in time. However, MSME productivity remains constrained by numerous barriers including insufficient access to finance. Scaling supply chain finance (SCF) has the potential to expand access to financing for MSMEs, particularly small and medium sized enterprises in well-integrated supply chains. This IFC assessment...

Interview with Mr. Abel Kamau, Kenya Association of Manufacturers