President William Ruto/PCSKenya is targeting 10,000 megawatts of electricity generation capacity within the next seven years as the government seeks to expand energy supply and attract investment in key sectors of the economy.
President William Ruto said the planned expansion would create significant opportunities for investors in geothermal energy, electricity transmission, battery storage, industrial power, green hydrogen and electric mobility.
“In the energy sector, we are expanding national generation capacity towards 10,000MW over the next seven years,” Ruto said.
He said the government could not deliver the country’s economic transformation on its own, urging the private sector to bring capital, technology and expertise to complement State investments.
“Government cannot deliver economic transformation alone. Our responsibility is to provide infrastructure, uphold predictable rules and create an enabling environment,” he said.
“The private sector turns those foundations into factories, technologies, exports and jobs.”
Ruto said Kenya’s partnership with businesses was therefore central to the country’s development agenda, rather than an optional component of economic transformation.
“That is why our partnership with business is not incidental to Kenya’s transformation; it is indispensable,” he said.
The President made the remarks during the American Chamber of Commerce Business Summit, where he pitched Kenya as a gateway for investors seeking access to the wider African market.
He urged American and other international companies to view Kenya as more than a domestic market, citing its strategic position within regional and continental trade arrangements.
“Do not look at Kenya simply as a market. Look at Kenya as your platform to a continent of 1.4 billion people,” Ruto said.
“Produce here. Innovate here. Build your regional headquarters here, and serve Africa from here.”
The President said Kenya was already attracting major investments from US companies, with American firms committing more than $600 million to new projects since the previous AmCham summit.
He cited Oracle’s selection of Kenya for its first public cloud region in Africa, Coca-Cola’s $175 million investment, and Mars Wrigley’s $103 million production line launched at Athi River.
Ruto also said SC Johnson was establishing a new manufacturing plant to serve Kenya and other African markets.
He welcomed interest from Ford in exploring investment opportunities in Kenya, linking the potential investment to his administration’s agenda of creating jobs and increasing local value addition.
“Henry Ford’s proposition that those who build a product should be able to afford it speaks directly to our agenda of creating jobs, building local value and making quality products accessible,” he said.
Ruto also identified the creative economy as another area with significant potential for exports and employment.
He said Kenya’s music, film, fashion, sport and digital sectors could generate more jobs and foreign exchange if supported with adequate infrastructure, financing, distribution networks and intellectual property protection.
He cited the proposed $120 million, 15,000-seat Zaria Arena at Railway City as an example of the scale of investment possible in the creative economy.
The President said the government would continue creating an enabling environment while calling on investors to combine their capital and technology with Kenya’s skilled workforce and access to African markets.
