The Republic of Kenya is located in East Africa, crossing equator, with the territory area of more than 580,000 square kilometers, with the neighbor of Somalia in the East, the borders of Ethiopia and Sudan in the north, the juncture of Ugandan in the west, and is connected with Tanzania in the south, close to Indian Ocean in the southeast. The coastline is 536 kilometers long. The coastal area is the plain region; other places are plateaus with 1500 meters above the average elevation. The north for the desert and half desert region approximately holds 56% of the total national area. The Kenyan mountain with the elevation of 5,199 meters lies in the middle of high ground. In Kenya, there are many rivers and lakes with the temperate climate, the monthly temperature around 14-19℃, the yearly precipitation around 750-1000 millimeters. The climate of East coastal region is hot and moist mainly in May, with the yearly average temperature of 24℃, the annual average rainfall around 500-1200 millimeters. The climate of half desert region in the north and east part has little rain and is quite dry, with the annual rainfall of 250-500 millimeter. The long rainy season is from March to June, while the short one is from October to December, other months are the dry seasons. In Kenya, the wooded areas of 87,000 square kilometers occupy 15% of the national territories, forest reserves 950,000,000 tons. In Nairobi, the highest temperature is 32.8℃ and the lowest is 3.9℃. It is cloudy before dawn, but the sunlight close noontime is sufficient. In the whole year, the average sunshine time is 7 hours. Though it is in cloudiest August, the average sunshine time is 4 hours every day. Therefore, the solar energy resources are extremely abundant in Kenya.
There are 31,900,000 populations in Kenya. The city and countryside different between the rich and poor is approximately big. Swahili language is the national language, while English is the official language. Nairobi is the capital with the population of approximately 3,000,000.
Kenya is a famous traveling country in Africa. The tourism is one of main industries bringing foreign exchange income. Nairobi city is situated in central south plateaus with the elevation of more than 1700 meters. Due to its pleasant climate and the four seasons fresh flower, Nairobi has gained a good reputation “Flower City under Sunlight”.
2. The Industry and Agriculture
Kenya is one of the African countries in Saharan towards south having good economic conditions. It mainly implements the private sector with diversified economy form coexisting; the private sector occupies 70% of the overall economy. The industrial development is quick, and the class is quite complete, which is the most developed country in the East African area. 85% of the everyday use necessities are produced by themselves, among which clothing, paper, food, drinks, cigarettes and so on are basically self-sufficient, and some of them are even exported to another country. The big enterprises include the refinery, the tire, the cement, the steel rolling, the electricity generation, the automobile assembly plant and etc. The agriculture is one of the national economic props, and the output value is 17% of GDP. 70% of its population is engaged in agriculture and the animal husbandry. The arable land area is 104,800 square kilometers (holding 18% of national territory area), in which cultivated land accounts for 73%, mainly concentrates in the southwest. Generally, the food is self-sufficient basically and has little exportation. The staple crops are: corn, wheat, coffee and so on. The coffee and the tea are main products to obtain the foreign currency exchange. Kenya was an important trade country in the East Africa since ancientry; the foreign trade plays a significant role in the national economy. The animal husbandry is also important in the country. The service industry includes financial, insurance, immovable property, commercial service and other services.
3. The Energy of Kenya
The energy in Kenya is relatively short. The petroleum products are completely depending on the import. Most people live in the remote countryside, and the national electrical network is 4% coverage only. The people’s warming, cooking and getting hot water mainly use firewood and charcoal. Meanwhile, the stove is simple and has low combustion efficiency that lead to serious environmental pollution. The national electric power mainly depends on the hydropower and the petroleum.
Kenya Electricity Resource
4. Technical Exchanges
There are 9 technicians or government officials from Kenya to participate in the training courses of the international solar energy appliced technology organized by our institute in past years. Some of them, who are now being engaged in the applied research and replication of solar energy technology, still keep close contact with us.
During the visit in Kenya, the team visited the Kenya Electrogen Technologies Co. Ltd., Kenya Broadcasting Company, Kenya Office of China Radio International, UNIDO Kenya Office, Chinese Embassy and etc. We also visited some villages and towns around Nairobi and had a good knowledge of the market of solar products in Kenya. In the meantime, we held discussion with Mr. Michael Munyao, executive director of Kenya Electrogen Technologies Ltd. for several times on establishment of cooperation relations, jointly set up share-holding cooperation enterprise, exploring solar energy market in Kenya and even in the whole Africa.
5. The Results
(1) The energy of Kenya is short. The petroleum products are completely imported. The national electrical network is 4% coverage only. The ecological destruction is a very serious problem. The solar energy resource is very rich and the market is very big.
(2) The government of Kenya and the enterprises are eager to cooperate in the development and application of solar energy. They wanted to cooperate with Chinese enterprises to develop and sell solar products in Kenya. A Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) was singed with Kenya Electrogen Technologies Co. Ltd. during our visit in Kenya. (see attached MoC).
(3) Through the mission, we considered to establish an African Office of UNIDO International Centre for Promotion and Transfer of Solar Energy Technology in Nairobi, Kenya, with the support of Kenyan government and UNIDO Kenya Office. It is expected to expand, promote, transfer and popularize the technologies and products of solar energy and other renewable energy in African countries.
(4) Before the end of the trip, it was agreed that we would invite the Kenyan entrepreneurs to visit China and have further discussion on cooperation.