- President William Ruto is advocating for Africa to evolve into a "green powerhouse."
- Kenya has secured a $1.5 billion green fertilizer project with Fortescue Future Industries.
- It also secured $1 billion geothermal project at Suswa with the Indonesian government.
President William Ruto is advocating for Africa to evolve into a "green powerhouse." Kenya already generates 92% of its electricity from renewables such as geothermal, hydro, and wind, Bloomberg reported.
The country has ambitious climate targets, including planting 15 billion trees and rehabilitating 10,000 wetlands, aligning with a focus on nature swaps.
President Ruto has been one of the major influential leaders globally who are steering businesses towards impactful climate action. Specifically labelled a "defender," he is on Time's Magazine 100 world leaders climate action list.
He recently hosted the inaugural Africa Climate Summit in Kenya, securing a whopping $23 billion for green projects. With 80% of the grid powered by low-carbon sources, Kenya, under Ruto's leadership, is making significant strides in the climate action arena.
Here are the deals signed so far:
1) $1.5 billion green fertilizer project with Fortescue Future Industries.
2) $1 billion geothermal project at Suswa with the Indonesian government, through Masdar-backed Pertamina Geothermal Energy.
3) AMEA Power of the UAE and Geothermal Development Co. of Kenya to invest $800 million in the 200MW Paka Geothermal Project.
4) $600 million data centre at Olkaria powered by green geothermal energy in partnership with EcoCloud.
5) United Green and Kenya Development Corp. to implement a $270 million sustainable agricultural project on 15,000 hectares in the lake basin region.
6)$200 million Clean Energy Supply Chain(CESC) initiative.
7) $110 million geothermal project for 35MW with Globeleq at Menengai.
Last week, Ruto called on global leaders attending the COP28 climate summit in Dubai to agree on a new global climate financing pact to ensure developing countries can pursue both economic and environmental sustainability.
“We must establish a new global financing pact which ensures no country is ever forced to choose between its development aspirations and necessary climate action,” Ruto said. “Turning Africa into a green powerhouse is not just essential for the continent, it is also vital for global industrial decarbonization.”