PHOTO
Image used for illustrative purpose. Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) workers walk past the pylons of high-tension electricity power lines at the Olkaria II Geothermal power plant near the Rift Valley town of Naivasha, Kenya February 15, 2018. Picture taken February 15, 2018. Thomas Mukoya, Reuters
The World Bank is poised to provide a 40.8 billion shilling ($300 million) interest-free loan to state-run Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) to help repay debts and rebuild its ageing transmission network.
The loan will be released under a seven-year programme dubbed 'Green and Resilient Expansion of Energy,' Business Daily newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Kenya Power’s debt to electricity producers and other suppliers stood at 87.5 billion shillings in the year ended June 2022, with 103.84 billion shillings in loans from local and foreign banks in the same period.
The World Bank said the loan will allow Kenya Power to continue with the last-mile connectivity and help the utility to set up smart meters and a two-way communication system with big power consumers to lower system losses.
(Writing by P Deol; Editing by Anoop Menon)
