According to Bloomberg article published on March 1, 2023, Kenya lifted a ban on new electricity supply deals as it seeks to add clean generation capacity.
The government will seek bids from companies to build power plants using green energy “giving consumers the benefit of competition in pricing,” according to a statement emailed Tuesday from State House in the capital, Nairobi. The new mechanism is a break from the current negotiated procurements, it said.
Kenya is trying to augment generation capacity amid the worst drought in four decades in the Horn of Africa region. A lack of rain has reduced production of cheap hydropower and led to increased use of more expensive thermal electricity.
The cabinet also approved plans to spend a further 4 billion shillings ($31.5 million) to mitigate the impact of drought, according to the statement.
Kenya is also seeking lawmakers’ approval to set its debt limit at a maximum of 55% of gross domestic product in net-present-value terms, instead of the current 10 trillion shilling cap, in line with an International Monetary Fund recommendation, the government said
Public liabilities rose 11% year-on-year to 9.15 trillion shillings, or 60% of GDP in net-present-value terms at the end of December, according to the National Treasury.
