COP28: UK to invest Ksh.1B for solar irrigation, electric buses in Kenya

The United Kingdom is set to invest Ksh.1 billion ($7.1 million) for two projects in Kenya as part of a wider package of green investment in Africa.

A Tuesday statement from the British High Commission in Nairobi said the British International Investment will announce a Ksh.321 million ($2.1 million) investment to provide solar-powered and water-efficient irrigation systems to 9,000 farmers in Kenya.

The project is set to help increase farmers' income as well as build their resilience and adapt to the impact of climate change.

“The upfront cost of the irrigation systems will also be reduced by 25-40% through an innovative carbon credit facility, making the systems more affordable for farmers,” the statement reads.

Meanwhile, Ksh.765 million ($5 million) will go towards the manufacture of 100 electric buses in Kenya to meet the local demand for affordable but clean public transport.

“As they replace diesel-powered polluters, they will stop 5,000 tonnes of CO2 entering the atmosphere every year,” added the statement.

The UK has also supported the design and development of President William Ruto’s industrialisation initiative for Africa, the Africa Green Industrialisation Initiative (AGII).

The Ksh.12.5 billion Menengai Geothermal project – which is expected to generate 35MW of electricity, providing approximately 750,000 Kenyans with affordable, clean energy and creating 200 jobs during construction, is proceeding to financial close with construction expected to begin shortly after, the High Commission said.

A Ksh.31 billion agreement has also been reached with the Kenyan Development Corporation and UK-funded investor United Green to establish an area “bigger than Nairobi National Park” for climate-smart farming.

This, the High Commission says, is expected to save Kenya $200m annually on food imports and help reduce Kenya’s trade deficit.

The Nairobi National Park sits on a 117-kilometre-squared track of land.

British High Commissioner to Kenya, Neil Wigan, said the investment is a sign of the strength of the UK-Kenya Strategic Partnership that these three projects have reached new milestones by COP28.

“The UK and Kenya are going far and going together. We are proud to support the President’s AGII. Combined with these investments from British International Investment, the UK and Kenya will deliver what Kenya’s people want - growth, jobs and trade - in a way that is sustainable and protects our planet,” Wigan noted.

The latest developments are part of six deals agreed between President Ruto and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt last year, which total over Ksh.500 billion of investment.

The UK-Kenya Strategic Partnership is a five-year agreement aimed at unlocking mutual benefits for the UK and Kenya without “load[ing] Kenya with unsustainable debt.”