Energy Access in Kenya
According to data from the World Bank, in 2010 only 22.7 percent of the Kenyan population had access to electricity.[1] However, this compares with 14.8 percent in Tanzania and 15.0 percent in Mozambique.[2] The majority of the people continue to rely on biofuels and waste such as firewood for heating and cooking. [3] Figures from Kenya Open Data show that there are great disparities in electricity access across Kenya's 48 counties, from 72 percent in Nairobi to just 2.45 percent in Turkana.[4]
Energy access in Kenya remains very low. However in 2008, former President Mwai Kibaki launched Vision 2030, a programme to develop the Kenyan economy over the next two decades, and various initiatives are underway to improve energy access in the country.[5] One plan is to build a nuclear power station by 2017, which could have a capacity of 9000 megawatts by 2030.[6] Meanwhile a report by Deloitte states that over the past two years, more oil may have been discovered in East Africa than any other region in the world.[7] As a result energy access in Kenya and the region as a whole may change significantly over the next few years.
References
- ↑ “Kenya: County Fact Sheets”Kenyan Commission on Revenue Allocation, retrieved 14 October 2013.
- ↑ "Access to electricity (% of population)" World Bank, accessed 25 November 2013.
- ↑ "Overview data for Kenya" U.S. Energy Information Administration, retrieved 16 October 2013.
- ↑ "Availability of Energy Sources, by County - 2009" Kenya Open Data, retrieved 16 October 2013.
- ↑ "Vision 2030" Kenya Vision 2030, retrieved 16 October 2013.
- ↑ "Kenya aims to build a nuclear power plant by 2017" Bloomberg, 20 September 2010.
- ↑ "The Deloitte Guide to Oil and Gas in East Africa" Deloitte, January 2013.
