The Ministry of Energy has issued an update on the status of the Last Mile Connectivity Project, confirming that the government is pushing forward with the electrification effort.
Speaking on Wednesday, November 19, Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi confirmed that the African Development Bank is funding Phase III of the Last Mile Connectivity Project, which is already in progress and currently within the procurement stage.
He explained that the government is actively implementing multiple programmes to fast-track electricity access nationwide.
"The Government of Kenya continues to implement various programmes aimed at accelerating electricity connectivity across the country.
"In particular, the Africa Development Bank has financed the Last Mile Connectivity Project Phase III, which is currently under procurement," he said.
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Elsewhere, the World Bank has thrown its weight behind Kenya's ambitious plan to establish a National Infrastructure Fund aimed at transforming the country's economic landscape.
In a statement on Tuesday, November 18, President William Ruto revealed that the global financial institution has endorsed the bold initiative designed to expand the nation's road and rail networks, irrigation systems, and energy generation capacity.
According to Ruto, the World Bank has particularly commended Kenya's proposal to construct 50 mega dams, which would expand irrigated land by 2.5 million acres.
"The World Bank has supported Kenya's bold decision to set up a National Infrastructure Fund to expand the road and rail network, irrigation and energy generation," he stated following a meeting with World Bank Africa Executive Director of Africa Group One Zarau Kibwe at State House, Nairobi.
The Bank's endorsement acknowledges that irrigation represents a new frontier for food production in Kenya, where 85 percent of the land is classified as arid or semi-arid.
The institution noted that rain-fed agriculture in the country's 15 percent arable land has reached its capacity limits.
The National Infrastructure Fund has been designed to mobilize financing for an extensive development agenda that includes the construction of 50 dams, 20,000 kilometers of roads, particularly in rural areas, and the dualization of 2,000 kilometers of highways.
The fund will also support the generation of an additional 10,000 megawatts of electricity to facilitate manufacturing and industrialization across the country.
