Kenyans Applaud Government On Electricity Provision, but Many Rural and Poor Households Still Lack Access to the Grid

1 November 2024
Afrobarometer (Accra)
By Eric Otu Beecham and Daniel Iberi

Majority of citizens support investment in wind and solar technologies, even if it leads to higher electricity prices.

Key findings

  • Almost nine out of 10 Kenyans (87%) live in zones served by the national electric grid. o Rural residents, the poor, and less educated citizens have significantly more limited access to the electric grid than urban, well-off, and more educated respondents.
  • Almost four in 10 citizens (36%) live in households that are not connected to the national electric grid.
  • Among those who are connected to the grid, 74% say their electricity works "most" or "all" of the time.
  • Combining connection and reliability rates, not quite half (47%) of all Kenyans enjoy a reliable supply of electricity from the national grid, with lower rates among rural residents (35%) and economically disadvantaged respondents (35%).
  • More than four in 10 Kenyans (42%) say their households use electric power from a source other than the Kenya Power and Lighting Co. grid, in most cases (95%) solar panels.
  • Almost six in 10 citizens (57%) say the government is doing a "fairly" or "very" good job of providing a reliable supply of electricity, though approval has declined by 7 percentage points since 2022.
  • A majority (62%) of Kenyans support government investment in wind and solar technologies for electricity generation, even if it leads to higher prices for electricity.

Kenya has taken substantial steps to increase access to electricity over the past two decades, in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of attaining universal access to "affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy" by 2030. Official estimates say Kenya's electrification rate has doubled since 2013, reaching 75% in 2022 (International Energy Agency, 2024; COMESA, 2021; World Bank, 2018, 2024).

In the 2021 Electricity Regulatory Index report from the African Development Bank (2021), Kenya was ranked second in Africa, behind Uganda, for its robust electricity regulatory regime encouraging connectivity across the country. Kenya's progress toward universal electricity access significantly bolsters its efforts to realise Kenya Vision 2030, a development plan focused on improving living standards for all Kenyans (Government of Kenya, 2007).

Beyond energy regulation and connectivity, Kenya is also a leader in developing a diversified power generation mix. More than 90% of Kenya's electricity is sourced from hydroelectric, geothermal, and other renewable energy sources (Reuters, 2019; Economist Intelligence, 2023). With European Commission support, Kenya unveiled a Green Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi in 2023, an initiative that seeks to boost Kenya's prospects of building a green economy and positioning itself as a front-runner in global energy transformation (European Commission, 2023; Kenya Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, 2024).

Despite these milestones, Kenya still faces challenges in guaranteeing affordable and reliable access to electricity in the face of growing energy demand triggered by rapid urbanisation and population growth (Institute of Economic Affairs, 2023). Ensuring access to electricity in certain rural regions also presents difficulties, including the high cost of extending the grid to remote, sparsely populated areas lacking roads and transmission lines.

Kenya Power and Lighting Co. (KPLC), the country's main distributor of electricity, and the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority have also been accused of high energy pricing, poor reliability, weak internal governance structures, and corruption (Muthoni, 2023).

Findings from the most recent Afrobarometer survey reveal that while most Kenyans live in areas served by the national electric grid, a significant share - especially among rural and economically disadvantaged citizens - remain unconnected, and fewer than half enjoy a reliable supply of electricity from the national grid.

A majority of Kenyans applaud the government's performance on electricity provision, although approval has declined since 2022. A majority also say the government should invest in wind and solar power for electricity generation.

Eric Otu Beecham Eric Otu Beecham is a monitoring, evaluation, and learning assistant for Afrobarometer.

Daniel Iberi Communications coordinator for East Africa

Read the original article on Afrobarometer.

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