The Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has received a Ksh1.85 billion grant to fund Phase V of the Last Mile Connectivity Project (LMCP).
In a statement on Monday, July 29, KPLC said the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has funded the LMCP, which will connect electricity to 9,000 households.
“The Last Mile Connectivity Project (LMCP) has been boosted with KShs.1.85 billion grant from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Consequently, more than nine thousand households will be connected to the grid under Phase V of the project,” the statement read in part.
KPLC said the targeted households are located within four counties: Nakuru, Kilifi, Kwale, and Nyandarua, where JICA is financing other key energy projects.
KPLC General Manager for Commercial Services and Sales Eng. Rosemary Oduor said the households will be connected to electricity by January 2025.
She thanked JICA for the grant and emphasized Kenya Power’s commitment to achieving universal access to electricity.
“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,” she said.
KPLC 6 Contracts for LMCP Phase IV
The JICA grant comes two months after Kenya Power signed twenty-six contracts for the implementation of Phase IV of the LMCP.
The Ksh27 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.
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About Last Mile Connectivity Project
Funded to the tune of Ksh73.1 billion to date, the LMCP is anchored on the Kenya National Electrification Strategy, developed in 2015 to speed up electricity access for households and businesses in Kenya.
Kenya Power is the implementing agency of the project on behalf of the government.
According to KPLC, the LMCP has significantly contributed to the growth of the electricity access rate in the country, which currently stands at 76%, with 9.6 million households connected to the grid since its inception in 2015.
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KPLC said 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 KSh51.1 billion.
“This success is primarily hinged on maximizing the efficiency of existing distribution transformers by connecting every household within 600m of the transformer as well as the installation of new transformers to serve households outside this radius,” read another part of the statement.
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