Seal skills gap to benefit fully from energy sector

We need to build an army of creative, empowered and educated entrepreneurs to power our energy future. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By SAMMY MWITI

Kenya’s ambitious 2022 target for universal electrification is well on its way to being realised. Off-grid solutions such as household solar and green mini-grids are now widely recognised as an integral
part of getting us there.

Like the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya is blessed with an excellent profile for scaling solar and other renewable energy resources. And it will need all solutions at its disposal, as World Bank data shows 21.3 million Kenyans still living without electricity.

But paradoxically, Sub-Saharan Africa ­­— a region that has the greatest need for clean, affordable and locally produced energy— accounts for less than one percent of all global renewable energy jobs, according to IRENA.

That means there is an enormous opportunity for employment growth from delivering energy access, especially for women and youth. Decentralised renewable energy (DRE) is already reaching many of the rural unelectrified, and in the process is creating thousands of direct and productive jobs.

Sample the following: In Kenya, the DRE direct, formal workforce is expected to grow by 70 percent between 2017–18 and 2022–23. In 2017–18, the DRE sector provided about 10,000 direct, formal jobs, most of which are from end-user product providers or retailers, according to the ground-breaking report The 2019 Energy Access Jobs produced by Power for All, a multi-stakeholder coalition campaigning to rapidly scale the deployment of decentralised renewable energy in order to achieve universal electricity access before 2030.

In fact, by 2022–23, the DRE workforce will provide more than 17,000 direct, formal jobs. Similarly, in 2017–18, the DRE sector provided about 15,000 informal jobs, and that number is expected to double by 2022-23.

In addition, the sector has a significant employment impact on rural productivity. In 2017-18, it was responsible for an estimated 65,000 productive use jobs within the communities gaining access for the first time, six times the number of direct, formal jobs created by the DRE sector. These are non-energy sector jobs that are often related to agriculture, coming from solar water pumps for irrigation for example, demonstrated the Power for All report.

Against this background therefore, Kenya should double its efforts tapping into this huge opportunity.

“Good jobs go where there is the right infrastructure mix of energy, transportation and internet connectivity,” explained the African Union High Representative for Infrastructure Development, Raila Odinga. Speaking at Strathmore University where the report was launched last month, the former Prime Minister added: “Business owners don’t go where power is unreliable and unaffordable. Businesses set up shop where there’s high-speed railway and high-speed internet and all these require tremendous amounts of energy”.

To its credit, the government has embarked on a raft of policy reforms that have made Kenya’s DRE sector one of the most vibrant and dynamic in sub-Saharan Africa. As such, the country has made great strides in its electrification efforts, empowering hundreds of thousands of households. As of December 2018, 75 percent of the population had access to electricity either through on-grid or off-grid applications.

This impressive performance underpins the government’s commitment to achieve universal electrification by 2022 through focus on last-mile connectivity driven by initiatives such as electrification programmes that will finance grid extension, intensification and densification (including mini-grids). Other measures entail the deployment of DRE solutions where the national grid cannot reach, including the Last Mile Connectivity Program and the $150 million, World-Bank funded Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project (KOSAP).

However, for the sector to fully flourish and unleash its full potential for job creation and achievement of universal energy access, there is need to do more. For example, by promoting DRE at job fairs in schools, say experts, our citizens — in their prime of youth — will be exposed to the tremendous possibilities offered by the sector, influencing their career decisions and trajectory.

At the same time, bankers, financial specialists and impact investors should be encouraged to invest in DRE enterprises and ventures especially those that promote inclusivity, youth, gender equality and women empowerment. This should be coupled with last-mile training and apprenticeship programmes, premised on an ecosystem approach that in addition to technical skills, integrates softer skills like data analysis, finance, environmental safeguards, among others.

To borrow the words of Mr Odinga, we need to build an army of creative, empowered and educated entrepreneurs to power our energy future. The global community and national governments must develop awareness, interest and support for the distributed renewable energy sector, along with technical and vocational education and training (TVET), to create the workforce to close a yawning skills gap.

“We must invest in a new army of energy workforce including engineers and technicians, utility staff, finance and banking professionals, manufacturers and entrepreneurs who will remove barriers hindering “last mile” delivery of electricity and faster adoption of distributed power. This mobilisation will also kick start job creation in energy-poor countries,” Mr Odinga said.

The writer is Kenya County Manager, Power for All.