Kenya Power has announced that it exceeded its target for new customer connections in the six months to December 2023 by nearly 14%, a significant step towards achieving universal access to electricity in the country by 2030.
Kenya Power connected 256,206 new customers to the national grid in the last half of 2023, exceeding its target of 225,000 and increasing the total customer base to over 9.4 million.
The accelerated connectivity was driven by improved meter availability and the deployment of the Rapid Results Initiative (RRI), aimed at fast-tracking meter installation for new connections across the country.
“Following the improvement in meter availability, we recently initiated a metering initiative to accelerate connections. We have exceeded our target for the half-year period and we are on course towards the attainment of our annual target, which will positively impact the journey towards universal access to electricity by the year 2030,” said Kenya Power’s Managing Director & CEO, Dr. (Eng.) Joseph Siror.
The company targets to connect 400,000 new customers by the end of the current financial year. To achieve universal access by 2030, an additional 4 million customers need to be connected.
Apart from the RRI, Kenya Power is also banking on the implementation of other projects like the Last Mile Connectivity Project (LMCP) to achieve its annual targets. So far, 1,431,423 customers have been connected through LMCP, funded by the Kenyan government and development partners.
“Preparations are ongoing for the rollout of Phase 4 of the Last Mile Connectivity Project that is financed by AFD/EU and EIB. The project targets to connect 280,000 customers across 32 counties within a period of 18 months,” the press release stated.
The improved connectivity follows a backlog of 236,924 pending new connections at the beginning of October 2023, resulting from legal battles that hindered the procurement of meters and other materials.
