KETRACO, Kenya’s state-owned transmission utility, has secured $311m in private capital through a public-private partnership with Africa50 and India’s Power Grid Corporation, as Nairobi increasingly turns to private financing to expand critical energy infrastructure while containing public debt.
The concession, capped at 30 years, places responsibility for construction, financing and long-term operation with the private consortium, with payments structured around availability and performance rather than upfront government spending.
The project will extend KETRACO’s high-voltage transmission into western Kenya for the first time and improve evacuation of renewable power from wind and geothermal projects in the Rift Valley, easing grid congestion and reducing system losses.
Kenya’s Treasury said the KETRACO deal reflects a shift towards off-balance-sheet infrastructure financing as fiscal space tightens, while energy officials described it as a model for scaling private investment into power transmission across Africa.
