A new dawn is fast emerging in Western Kenya: a lakeside economy increasingly vibrant, a spread of industrial corridors and the hubs of cross-border trade robust with movement and ambition.
The region is fast becoming one of Kenya’s most promising investment frontiers. At the centre of this quiet transformation is a force often overlooked: a flourishing network of dependable electricity transmission lines powering industries, opening markets and connecting communities with opportunities.
For a decade, Ketraco has silently laid the building blocks for this growth through an ever-expanding network of high-voltage transmission infrastructure projects, interconnecting counties, making power supply stable, and enabling industries to thrive where diesel generators once dominated.
These investments are not only improving reliability, but they are also redefining the region’s economic landscape and making it possible for investors to set up factories, for entrepreneurs to expand, and for homes, schools and hospitals to have access to consistent, affordable power.
Projects such as the 400kV Olkaria–Lessos–Kisumu transmission line have transformed the supply of electricity to Kisumu and its environs. This has helped in reducing recurrent power outages, reliance on diesel generation, and improved the competitiveness of manufacturing, tourism, security and service sectors in this lakeside city.
Migori county is already beaming with life, following the energisation of the 132kV Awendo–Isibania transmission line project. The stability in supply to Migori, Kehancha and Isibania has increased cross-border trade and industrial activity, supporting local enterprises and sugar factories.
The proposed 220kV Kisumu–Kakamega–Musaga transmission line will further enhance the regional grid. It will make a loop that links Kisumu, Kakamega and Bungoma, thereby enhancing redundancy and system stability to facilitate reliable power supply to agro-processing, manufacturing and growing county level investments.
The additional planned Mumias–Rang’ala–Bondo transmission line will create wider access to reliable power, opening new growth corridors in Bondo, Yala and Ugunja.
This will strengthen economic activity and improve service delivery in education, health and commerce.
The 132kV transmission line connecting Narok and Bomet, although outside the Western Kenya basin, is of equivalent importance because it will boost voltage stability across South Nyanza and the Western circuit, hence enhancing overall grid performance and resilience.
These are projects that represent a national effort to ensure that electricity transmission keeps step with the industrial and social transformation that is taking place in Kenya. Reliable power is the backbone of economic competitiveness, an enabler of Vision 2030 and the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.
Ketraco participates in regional investment platforms, including the just-concluded Siaya International Trade and Investment Conference, the Nyanza International Investment Conference held at Ciala Resort in Kisumu, Homa Bay International Trade and Investment Conference, and the Lake Region Economic Bloc climate summit, which was held in Kakamega recently to demonstrate its intent in aligning infrastructure development with regional development imperatives.
Major regional initiatives such as the expansion of Kisumu Port, growth of Kisumu International Airport, powering the manufacturing industries and industrial parks that will be established in Kakamega, Kisii and Siaya just to mention a few, are pegged on one thing: stable power.
Beyond stability, Ketraco’s investments are fostering sustainability: through a reduction in dependence on thermal generation and minimisation of transmission losses, they support Kenya’s green energy goals and enable cross-border power trade under the Eastern Africa Power Pool.
A new era of investment and opportunities is afoot in Western Kenya, and the Ketraco transmission network is the base on which the region expands its growth inclusively and sustainably. Every commissioned or under-construction line is a statement of intent: to power industries, empower people and change lives.
by KIPKEMOI KIBIAS
