Kenya to get part of Sh30T clean energy fund to Create Jobs – World Bank

Kenya and three other countries in sub-Saharan Africa could earn as much as Sh30 trillion in investment opportunities in clean energy financing over the next ten years.

A new report by the World Bank’s International Finance Cooperation (IFC) says the countries could record 13.3 million jobs from adopting green policies to reverse climate change.

The report dubbed “Ctrl-Alt-Delete: A Green Reboot for Emerging Markets’ identifies 10 sectors that can support job creation and growth in 21 emerging economies.

Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Cote d’Ivoire stand to gain Sh6.3 trillion in investments into grid-scale renewable energy projects, creating 2.2 million jobs.

This would help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 46.5 million tonnes by 2030. “Investor appetite remains strong, with auctioned renewable capacity 15 percent higher between January and October 2020 compared to the same period in 2019,” read the report.

According to the IFC, falling prices of solar, wind and batteries will drive an eleven-fold increase in renewable energy generation globally by 2050.

Renewable energy prices have avoided the negative economic impacts of COVID-19 experienced by fossil fuels.

The report comes a day after the Treasury released the Budget Policy Statement for the financial year 2021/22, highlighting climate change-related risk as a concern for the economy.

“The fiscal implications could be among the most powerful effects of climate change,” said the Treasury in its report.

“Climate developments will directly affect fiscal position by lowering tax revenues and increasing public spending to mitigate the resulting natural disasters.”