Industry Analysis

The Energy, Infrastructure and ICT Sector is crucial for Kenya’s economic transformation. This sector is essential for sustained economic growth, development and poverty reduction. 

Despite the importance of the sector, the country still suffers from low infrastructure investments. During the medium term, the sector aims at sustaining and expanding infrastructural facilities to support a rapidly-growing economy in line with the priorities in the Constitution of Kenya,the Kenya’s Vision 2030 and 

Medium-TermPlan(MTP III). 

The sector consists of the following nine sub-sectors: Infrastructure, Transport, Shipping and Maritime Affairs,  Housing  and Urban Development,  Public Works,  Information, Communications, Technology and Innovation, Broadcasting and Telecommunication, Energy and Petroleum. 

During the Medium Term Expenditure Framework Period 2018/19-2020/21, the sector targets to implement the following major programmes: 

Road Transport, Road Transport Safety and Regulations, Rail Transport, Marine Transport,Air Transport,Shipping and Maritime Affairs,Housing Development and Human Settlement, Urban and Metropolitan Development, Regulations and Development of Construction Industry, Government Buildings, Coastline Infrastructure and Pedestrian Access, Power Generation, Power transmission and distribution, Alternative Energy Technologies,Exploration and Distribution of Oil and Gas, E-Government Services, ICT Infrastructure Development, Information and Communications Services and Mass Media Skills Development.

In addition of the above programmes over the medium term, the Government will implement strategic policies, programmes and projects aimed at transforming our economy. The programmes and projects outlined for implementation are aligned to the Government Manifesto and aims at supporting/and implementing the four pillars of our country’s transformation dubbed“The Big 4” namely: Manufacturing and Agro-processing, Nutrition and Food Security, Housing and health. Specifically, the sector targets development of 1,000,000 within the next five years to enable affordable houses to its citizens. The sector also indirectly supports the pillars of national transformation by supporting in terms of communication, transportawtion, energy and other 

infrastructural facilities.

The Energy, Infrastructure and ICT Sector is crucial for Kenya’s economic transformation. This sector is essential for sustained economic growth, development and poverty reduction. Despite the importance of the sector, the country still suffers from low infrastructure investments. During the medium term, the sector aims at sustaining and expanding infrastructural facilities to support a rapidly-growing economy in line with the priorities in the Constitution of Kenya,the Kenya’s

Vision 2030 and Medium -TermPlan (MTP III).The sector consists of the following nine sub-sectors: Infrastructure, Transport, Shipping and Maritime Affairs, Housing  and Urban Development,  Public  Works,  Information, Communications, Technology and Innovation, Broadcasting and Telecommunication, Energyand Petroleum. 

During the Medium Term Expenditure Framework Period 2018/19-2020/21, the sector targets to implement the following major programmes: Road Transport,Road Transport Safety and Regulations, Rail Transport, Marine Transport,Air Transport,Shipping and Maritime Affairs,Housing Development and Human Settlement, Urban and Metropolitan Development, Regulations and Development of Construction Industry, 

Government Buildings, Coastline Infrastructure and Pedestrian Access, Power Generation, Power transmission and distribution, Alternative Energy 

Technologies,Exploration and Distribution of Oil and Gas, E-Government Services, ICT Infrastructure Development, Information and Communications Services and Mass Media Skills Development.

In addition of the above programmes over the medium term, the Government will implement strategic policies, programmes and projects aimed at transforming our economy. The programmes and projects outlined for implementation are aligned to the Government Manifesto and aims at supporting/and implementing the four pillars of our country’s transformation dubbed“The Big 4” namely: Manufacturing and Agro-processing, Nutrition and Food Security, Housing and health. Specifically, the sector targets development of 1,000,000 within the next five years to enable affordable houses to its citizens. The sector also indirectly supports the pillars of national transformation by supporting in terms of communication, transportawtion, energy and other infrastructural facilities.

In the financial years 2014/15-2016/17, the Sector was allocated a total of Kshs. 1,109,577 Billion for both recurrent and development expenditure.

The above resources enabled the sector to realize the following major achievements among others: under the infrastructure sub-sector, 1,659 km of new roads were constructed and 434km of existing roads rehabilitated; under the transport subsector, 472 kmof Standard Gauge Raicompletedand operationalized; completed detailed designs and financial mobilization of SGR Phase 2A; completed and operationalized second container terminal Phase I; completed security screening yard at JKIA; under Maritime and Shipping Affairs, operationalized Marine Cargo Insurance; under housing and urban development, 1050 housing units

for National Police and Prisons Services completed;completed 56km of trunk sewer and treatment plant at Ruiru; completed 159km of Non -Motorized Transport facilities; in public works sub-sector, 5 stalled buildings completed, rehabilitated Shimoni fisheries jetty and designed, documented

and supervised 202 New Government buildings; under energy sub-sector, additional 842.8MW was added to the national grid, 15,259public schools connected with power to facilitate the digital literacy programme, completed 1,224 Km of transmission line and 13,963 Km of distribution line; under petroleum,

26 petroleum exploration blocks marketed internationally resulting into 23 expression of interest and 3 heads of agreement negotiated 

and signed, 350 members of staff trained on specialized petroleum fields under KEPTAP and a study on cost of service for a retail price build up structure was undertaken and to ensure security of supply of oil and gas, 5,584 metric tonnes were distributed and 941 tests conducted in petroleum sites to enhance 

compliance of quality and safety standards; under ICT& Innovation, 1,200,000 million were devices procured and distributed to 21,150 public primary schools. The remaining 3,000 public primary schools will be be provided with the devices in 2018/19 fincancila marking the end of phase I, laid down 1539km of fibre under the Nation Optic Fibre Infrastructure (NoFBI) phase II, recruited and trained 500 ICT graduates under the Presidential Digital Talent Programme and trained 10,000 youth on online jobs under Ajira Programme and; under Broadcasting and Telecommunication, 78% national digital TV broadcasting coverage through roll out of public infrastructure at KBC, reduced government expenditure on telecommunications services by 30% by rollingout Government Unified Communications and County connectivity systems in twelve State Department and 46 Counties and 202 Degree students admitted and training ongoing. 

The Sector faced the following challenges: High capital investment cost required in sector projects, vandalism of infrastructure facilities,high land compensation and litigation costs, Regional integration issues, Inadequate human capital, high traffic congestion in major cities in the country, potential land use conflicts and unavailability of land for public projects, impact of climate change on infrastructural projects, managing local community expectations in resources and projects within their communities, low uptake of PPPs and strategic partners, cyber security challenges, digital divide between the rural and urban areas limiting equal access to information, duplication of projects with County Governments and delay in enactment of enabling legislations.In the financial year 2017/18, the Sector was allocated a total of Ksh 415,743 million of which,Ksh 67,221 million was recurrent while Ksh 348,521 million was development. During the MTEF 2018/19 –2020/21 period, the Sector total resource requirements in 2018/19 is Kshs. 964,663million of which Kshs 876,792million is development and Kshs. 87,871million for recurrent 

expenditure. The projection for the financial year 2019/20 is Kshs. 1,187,818 million of which Kshs 1,096,348 million for development and Kshs. 91,471

million for recurrent expenditure. In the financial year 2020/21, the projection is Kshs. 923,461 million for development and Kshs. 96,183

million for recurrent expenditure totaling to Kshs. 1,019,644 million.

The resource allocation ceiling for the sector is KShs 409,012 Million in 2018/19, KShs 416,360 Million in 2019/20and KShs. 417,693 Million in 2020/21. These shows a decrease from 2017/18 allocation.In conclusion, the sector being the key enabler of the economy it is important for the sector to be allocated adequate resources 

to realize its strategic objectives.