Government representatives and the private sector from across East Africa are meeting in Nairobi for a conference on sustainable energy (SE4All forum) backed by the United Nations.
The forum seeks to identify areas of potential collaboration by way of joint investments to implement national plans aimed at enhancing access to modern energy services.
The meeting will also pursue ways of doubling contribution of renewable energy across the region and improvement of energy efficiency.
"The adoption of the sustainable development Goal 7 on energy at the New York summit end of September modelled on the SE4All objectives was a major milestone and the SE4All Action Agendas that are under development in more than 25 African countries constitute a national implementation response to this global goal," said Daniel-Alexander Schroth, SE4All Africa hub coordinator.
The SE4All initiative is a brainchild of the UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon. Kenya opted into the initiative in 2012 and has completed its investment prospectus which will see SE4All implemented at both national and county levels.
The prospectus identifies opportunities for investment that will ensure the design of projects and programmes within the energy sector contributes towards the initiative's objectives.
"The action plans will align future progress in the energy sector with the new governance structure stipulated in the constitution. These plans will guide counties in Kenya to develop their own energy plans, contributing towards achievement of SE4All," said energy and petroleum principal secretary Joseph Njoroge.
The forum comes at a time when the energy regulatory commission has announced plans to delegate licensing of power plants of up to 10 megawatts to the counties to spur investments in green energy.
This week, Kenya was recognized at the ongoing climate talks in Paris for its increased investments in green energy projects, specifically geothermal power generation which is currently the largest source of electricity in the country.
A report released by Bloomberg New Energy Finance last month ranked Kenya among top ten countries that have made significant investments in renewable energy, alongside South Africa and Uganda.
