d.light joins drive to expand off-grid solar and clean cooking in rural Kenya

d.light, the global provider of transformational household products and affordable finance for low-income households, has been chosen to take part in the latest Kenyan Government initiative to expand the uptake of off-grid solar home systems and clean cookstoves in underserved rural counties in the country.

d.light has been selected to take part in the latest round of the Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project (KOSAP), a program set up by the Government of Kenya and funded by the World Bank with the aim of closing the energy access gap in Kenya by providing electricity and clean cooking solutions to remote and traditionally underserved areas of the country not covered by the national energy grid.

d.light will provide solar power and clean cooking solutions to over 150,000 people who currently lack access to electricity and clean cooking. To address affordability, d.light’s solar products will be sold on an instalment plan via d.light’s “PayGo” service.

The program covers 14 counties in total - 13 counties in the north, east and south-east of the country, including West Pokot, Turkana, Marsabit, Samburu, Isiolo, Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River, Lamu, Kilifi, Kwale, Taita Taveta: plus the southwestern county of Narok.

According to 2022 data from the World Bank, 24 percent of Kenya’s population of 54 million people still lack access to electricity, with more than 34 percent of Kenya’s rural population without access.

In addition, only 30 percent of the entire population currently have access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking. The majority still use harmful and polluting fuels like unprocessed biomass, charcoal, coal, and kerosene.

Commenting on the news, d.light’s Managing Director for Kenya, Karanja Njoroge, said, “Kenya has achieved sustained economic growth and social development in the last decade or so, and its economy is the largest and most developed in eastern and central Africa.

“However, many of its citizens still live without access to electricity, especially in rural areas outside the major towns and cities. These areas are also vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including droughts and desertification.”

Njoroge continued, “Kenya was one of the first African countries in which d.light launched operations back in 2008, and our headquarters for Africa is in Nairobi. With our combination of tried-and-tested, market-leading products, established distribution channels, and our secure “PayGo” payment system, d.light is ideally placed to participate in this latest drive to extend clean, safe, renewable energy to the people and communities in rural Kenya who need it.

“Thanks to the KOSAP initiative, a better quality of life is within reach for many Kenyans.”

The Government of Kenya launched the KOSAP program in November 2018. The program consists of four components with a total budget of USD$150M provided as a grant from the World Bank:

• Component 1: Mini-grids for community facilities, businesses, and households
• Component 2: Standalone Solar Home Systems and clean cooking solutions for households
• Component 3: Standalone systems and solar water pumps for community facilities
• Component 4: Capacity building for development, planning and regulation of power and renewable energy at a county government level

d.light is participating in Component 2, which has been allocated USD$15.7M of the total budget. Of this amount, USD$9.3M is earmarked for off-grid solar solutions and USD$6.4M for clean cookstoves.

The KOSAP program is part of Kenya Vision 2030, the long-term development blueprint for the country first launched in 2008 by then President Mwai Kibaki. Vision 2030’s aim is to transform Kenya by 2030 into an industrialized, prosperous, competitive middle-income country that provides a high quality of life to all its citizens in a clean and secure environment.

This news follows d.light’s nomination in September as a finalist for this year’s Earthshot Prize, the prestigious annual international environmental award founded by the UK’s Prince William that showcases groundbreaking sustainable solutions for repairing and regenerating the planet.d.light is one of 15 finalists. The winners will be announced at the Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony in Cape Town, South Africa, on Wednesday 6 November.