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Kenya, France ink deal to connect more Kenyans with electricity

Xinhua, August 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

Kenya and French governments on Monday signed a 36.3 million-U.S. dollar deal on power grid in counties in northern Kenya which aims to provide affordable power to Kenyans.

A statement from the presidency said the signing of the Credit Facility Agreement which was witnessed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault in Nairobi will also get an additional 0.6 MW generated by wind power.

"The deal will provide funds for a mini-grid retrofitting project that will be implemented by Kenya Power and will see installation of 9.5 MW additional power voltage in the counties," the statement said.

The projects will involve the setting up of mini-grids in 23 sites including Banisa, Baragoi, Daadab, Eldas, Elwak, Faza, Habaswein, Hola, and Hulugho in northern Kenya.

The funding is a major boost to the government's efforts to ensure accessible, affordable, and reliable power to Kenyans.

Since 2013, the government has doubled the number of citizens connected to the grid from around 13 million to some 25 million.

In the last two years, over 14,000 schools have been connected to electricity, which means 23,000 are now connected to power.

Over 40 new substations have also been commissioned since the government came to office in 2013, raising power generation from 1,765 MW to more than 2,422 MW. Endit