President William Ruto has called upon Kenyans to embrace private partners as they have the capacity to finance mega-projects in Kenya which will help alleviate the tax burden on Kenyans and cut overdependence on loans.
Speaking on Thursday October 24, during the groundbreaking of the the 35MW Orpower 22 Power Plant, Menengai, Nakuru County, Ruto hailed Private Partnerships and praised the Adani Group, claiming that embracing such partners was the right direction to take if Kenya wants to develop.
"The Adani Group is investing in the transmission line with their own money Ksh 95 billion. We would have gone to borrow that money and burden the people of Kenya, but this is now a private-sector investment. It is the same partnership that saw us have the Nairobi Expressway." Ruto stated
According to Ruto, Adani's investment means Kenya can now redirect her much needed resources to other pressing matters.
The president further noted that Kenya needs the private sector to invest within the country to help the nation realize its potential and fully exploit her existing resources.
"It is important for us as a nation to appreciate that a partnership between the public and private sector gives us a win-win situation where we can deliver public services using the investment of private sector as a way supporting overall development in our country", Ruto said.
In the Private Partnership for the 35MW Orpower 22 Power Plant in Nakuru, Kaishan Group from China has invested Ksh 12 Billion in a project that will see the foreign firm produce power. Kenya will in turn purchase energy from the foreign firm.
Other Private Partners that have invested in the country as listed by President Ruto include Sossian which has invested in power. According to the Head of State, Globlec, Adani, and Kaishan have also pledged investments as well.
Over the years Private Partnerships have enabled the Government of Kenya to implement high-quality infrastructure projects, especially in the energy and transport sectors.
The Indian Conglomerate Adani has received a lot of backlash from Kenya after it was revealed it would take over control of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) for renovations. The agreement stipulates the company is to invest Ksh246 billion to bring the facility up to par and in turn recoup its investment over 30 years.
Adani also inked a 30-year Ksh117 billion power transmission infrastructure deal with Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO). The Indian firm is expected to finance, construct, and operate a number of transmission lines and substations in Kenya.
The Kenyan government is hoping to facilitate the construction of 371 Kilometres of transmission lines and five substations in Eastern and Western Kenya as part of a public-private partnership with Adani Energy to ensure stability in supply.
