The government of Kenya has signed a joint-agreement with the Indian government owned Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID), and  Africa50, the pan-African infrastructure investment platform to develop the Kenya Transmission Project on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis.

The project entails the development, financing, construction, and operation of the 400kV Lessos – Loosuk and 220kV Kisumu – Musaga transmission lines under a public-private partnership (PPP) framework.

Once completed, the project will be the first Independent Power Transmission (IPT) in Kenya and will set a reference point in Africa as the first financing of transmission lines on a PPP basis.

The project is expected to improve both the supply and reliability of power transmission in Western Kenya and further create a demonstration effect to help increase private sector investments into the expansion of Africa’s power transmission networks, which is critical to bridging the continent’s electricity access gap.