Standard Chartered Bank has committed to financing more than Sh150 billion in energy projects under the “Power Africa Initiative”.The initiative is a five-year partnership between the United States (US), six African governments and the private sector.
Standard Chartered’s commitment is more than 20 percent of the initial private sector contribution to Power Africa, alongside the US Government’s provision of Sh600 billion in financial support.The partnership represents a coordinated cross-border effort to build the regulatory, economic and policy foundation in order to double access to power in sub-Saharan Africa.
The governments of Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Liberia and a group of private-sector firms are taking part in the initiative to improve access to clean, reliable power in Africa.The initiative will add more than 10,000 megawatts of cleaner, more efficient electricity generation capacity -increasing access to electricity by more than 20 million new households and businesses.Standard Chartered will work closely with US agencies, including the Export-Import Bank, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to develop the policy framework for specific projects and the introduction of best practice for infrastructure development in Africa.This comes as the Ministry of Energy plans to support regional cooperation in order to create a mass market for the private sector to thrive the industry.
Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir says the ministry is working on political federation in the region so as give the private sector more opportunity for business in the region.Chirchir said that the ministry is seeking to ease the cost of doing business in the energy sector so as to give the private sector a competitive edge in the region.“As part of creating the competitive edge, the ministry is also looking in reducing regulation in the industry,” he said.He asked the private sector to find new innovative products in the energy sector so as to thrive the industry.
