The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has offered a Kshs 1.85 billion for the Last Mile Connectivity Project targeting connection of 9,121 households in the counties of Nakuru, Kilifi, Kwale and Nyandarua to the national grid under Phase V of the project.
“We expect to connect all the targeted households across the four counties by January 2025. The Company is committed to fast-tracking electricity connection across the country to achieve universal access to electricity. We thank JICA for the grant which will go a long way to enable these households to access electricity and transform their livelihoods,” said Kenya Power, General Manager for Commercial Services and Sales, Eng. Rosemary Oduor.
The JICA grant comes two months after Kenya Power signed 26 contracts for the implementation of Phase IV of the Last Mile Connectivity Project.
The Kshs 27 billion project is funded by the French Development Agency (AFD), the European Union (EU) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). It will connect a total of 280,000 new customers to the grid by November 2025.
Funded to the tune of Kshs 73.1 billion to date, the Last Mile Connectivity Project is anchored on the Kenya National Electrification Strategy that was developed in 2015 to speed up electricity access for households and businesses in Kenya.
A total of 746,867 households have been connected to the grid under the first three phases of the Last Mile Project at a cost of Kshs 51.1 billion, pushing up the number of households connected to the grid to 9.6 million.