APA-Nairobi (Kenya) Kenya aims to develop its energy industry through a new Public-Private Partnership (PPP) law.
Kenya’s energy sector players are pondering on their future after the adoption of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Act. During a workshop organized by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the national power company Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco), they recommended that the authorities “accelerate” the popularisation of the law to “provide a better understanding” of the development of transmission lines via PPPs and “establish key synergies” that can help catalyze the development of partnerships, a statement sent to APA Monday says.
Promulgated in December 2021, the new law recognises the need to increase private sector participation in the financing, construction, development, operation or maintenance of infrastructure or development projects. In the energy sector, PPPs will help develop generation and transmission lines.
According to the AfDB, Ketraco had “requested” it to organise this workshop to review the legislation and help gain the knowledge and understanding necessary to accelerate the development of private power
transmission projects in Kenya.
“Part of our initial due diligence indicated that there was a lack of knowledge within the (Ketraco) PPP project implementation team and, more broadly, a need for clarity on the management of key stakeholders in the evaluation, procurement and structuring of transmission line PPPs,” Angela Nalikka, head of power system solutions development at the AfDB explained.
“The institution is certainly best placed to engage stakeholders and we are grateful to the African Development Bank for its contribution,” John Mativo, managing director of project development services at Ketraco acknowledged.
In addition to members of Kenya’s power sector bodies and development organisations, the event was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Energy, the Kenya Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Kenya Electricity Generation Limited (KENGEN) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
ODL/ac/fss/as/APA