Kenya has become the second African country to make a concrete commitment towards achieving global renewable energy goals by launching its Action Agenda and Investment Prospectus at a high-level gathering in Nairobi today.

Representatives from the African Union, Regional Economic Communities, Kenyan government, private sector, and civil society are meeting at the two-day high-level meeting from March 11 to 12 to ensure ownership of the two documents and that they are a true reflection of the country’s needs. 

The documents address the gaps in the country’s regulatory and investment environment and identify priority projects to achieve the UN Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) Initiative, which calls for universal access to modern energy services, doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency, and doubling the share of renewable energy by 2030.

“Kenya is realistically moving towards achieving its set goals of sustainable energy by creating the right environment for investment, collectively identifying its priority energy projects and setting up a realistic action agenda for its implementation,” Head of NEPAD’s Energy Programme, Professor Mosad Elmissiry (above) said.

Principal Secretary of the Kenyan Ministry of Energy and Petroleum delivering the welcome statement at the validation workshop

Eng. Joseph K. Njoroge, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Energy & Petroleum said that “clean, sustainable energy will be crucial for powering African economies and uplifting the standard of living of our people.” He further continued that the two documents will complement the significant steps that the government has taken towards improving the policy, regulatory and institutional environment in Kenya, including developing a draft national energy policy and energy bill.

Representatives from the Kenyan Ministry of Energy and petroleum 

After the Gambia, Kenya is the second country in Africa to produce its own SE4All Action Agenda and Investment Prospectus towards achieving universal access to energy. Africa has taken the lead in responding to the Initiative with 44 African countries out of 84 globally having opted in. Member States are required to set up mechanisms to make universal access to durable modern energy services a priority.