Significance of the US-Kenya Clean Energy and Industry Pact

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

---

Everyone is talking about the potential for clean energy development in Africa, including the US. Rather than focusing solely on advancing government-sponsored projects that pile up heavy debt, the US and Kenya just announced agreement on a complex set of initiatives, including risk management, STEM education, women's energy entrepreneurship and other elements of a long-term strategy. platform for a rapid and economically beneficial transition to clean energy.

The US-Kenya Industrial Partnership for Climate and Clean Energy: Why?

If you're wondering why Kenya, that's a good question. The White House hosted a state dinner for Kenyan President William Ruto last week. That is the first time such an event has occurred since then 2003, when the US and Kenya began a long-term collaboration in the field of AIDS.

The last time for that matter any African head of state received a state dinner at the White House in 2008, Associated press notes.

Yet the invitation to last week's dinner did not come out of the blue. The The US recognized the nation of Kenya following independence from Britain in 1963, and the two nations established formal diplomatic ties in 1964. Sixty years later, in October 2023, the US Department of State posted an update on the ongoing strategic trade and investment negotiations between the two countries.

“Kenya has the most dynamic economy in East Africa and is a growing regional business and financial centre,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

“In 2018, the United States and Kenya formally elevated the relationship to a strategic partnership and established a corresponding bilateral strategic dialogue,” the State Department added. “The dialogue prioritizes five pillars of engagement: economic prosperity, trade and investment; defense cooperation; democracy, governance and civil security; multilateral and regional issues; and public health cooperation.”

Last week's state dinner marked the successful conclusion of the negotiations under the title: “The US-Kenya Industrial Partnership on Climate and Clean Energy.” The agreement's long list of commitments includes measures aimed at promoting a rapid, efficient clean energy transition in Kenya, and supporting follow-on impacts across Africa.

While Russia, China and the EU are also competing for strategic positions in Africa – partly based on access to crucial minerals – it's also worth noting that the White House and Kenya also concluded a separate set of negotiations last week, culminating in President Joe Biden briefing Congress on his intends to designate Kenya a 'major non-NATO ally'. This is the first such relationship between the US and a sub-Saharan country.

“Kenya is one of the U.S. government's most important counterterrorism and security partners in sub-Saharan Africa, and the appointment will demonstrate that the United States considers African contributions to global peace and security to be equivalent to those of our most important non-NATO allies in other countries. regions,” President Biden explained.

Financing the clean energy transition in Kenya

Accelerating the energy transition is a particular challenge for communities with limited or no access to clean energy. In this respect, CleanTechnica employee Remeredzai Joseph Kuhudzai has drawn attention to the transforming power of clean energy development in sub-Saharan Africaincluding Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe (see our complete Africa archive here).

With that in mind, let's take a look at the commitments in the new US-Kenya Climate and Industrial Partnership.

The Biden administration notes that the new partnership elevates “climate action and green industrialization to a critical pillar” of U.S.-Kenya relations. “We also indicated our intention to implement a new framework for green growth across Africa,” the White House noted.

That pan-African angle remains to be seen, but a big attention grabber is the partnership's focus on working with the international financial community to leverage development banks and climate funds, with the aim of lowering the costs of new clean energy projects. The US commitment includes part of the $568 million in catalytic financing to which the US has contributed the Clean Technology Fund last year.

Clean energy financing is just one part of a broader debt relief plan articulated in the partnership's 'Nairobi-Washington Initiative'. That's an attractive contrast to the “debt trap diplomacy” attributed to China. Moreover, the financial angle may also attract African leaders looking for ways to avoid this political upheavalI am connected to Russia.

Clean energy transition at the grassroots level and beyond

In terms of boot-on-the-ground initiatives, the partnership includes a $3.6 million commitment to help individual taxpayers in Kenya connect to clean electricity through the Empowering East and Central Africa program of the Power Africa initiative, along with a $300,000 pledge to support gender neutrality. equality and women entrepreneurs in the clean energy sector.

Another grassroots-oriented element is a four-year, $60 million grant from the Millennium Challenge Corporation aimed at improving public transportation access and transportation safety, especially for women.

At the industrial level, the partnership includes a $10 million direct loan to Kenyan electric bus company BasiGo and a $10 million loan to Kenyan electric motorcycle manufacturer Roam Electric, through DFC (the US International Development Finance Corporation). DFC also recently provided a $10 million loan to Mogo Auto Kenya in support of President Ruto's Africa Green Industrialization Initiative. MAK is using the money to make financing more affordable for buyers of electric cars and motorcycles.

“The U.S. Department of State also announced $100,000 in technical assistance to support accelerating the transition to zero-emission vehicles in Kenya, including through policy development and implementation, capacity building and peer-to-peer learning, and the development of workforce,” the White House said. notes.

What's in it for the US?

The bilateral partnership is not a one-way street. An example is Virunga power, which the White House describes as “an American company.” Virunga is a Power Africa partner with a $100 million hydropower project in Kenya over the next five years, totaling 31 megawatts. The company specializes in rural electrification and run-of-the-river projects that minimize infrastructure (if anyone can confirm that US connection, drop us a line in the comment thread).

The partnership's focus on geothermal energy in Kenya also opens up some opportunities for the U.S. geothermal industry. The U.S. geothermal industry is only just emerging from a decades-long slumber, with only a handful of commercial facilities currently operating. Over the years, however, the U.S. Department of Energy has supported the domestic geothermal industry exporter of new geothermal technology to other nations. All that hard work is finally starting to pay off new geothermal projects here in the US, as well as a strong position in technology exports (see more geothermal news here).

New scientific collaborations and STEM education programs for youth also take up a significant amount of space in the new partnership. CleanTechnica is particularly interested in seeing how these programs align with the clean cooking appliance movement youth involvement and habitat conservationso stay tuned for more information on this.

Follow me @tinamcasey on Bluesky, Threads, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Photo (cropped): “A solar panel powering a mini-grid serving over 300 households in Kisii County, Kenya (credit: Power Africa).