Make Money on Energy in Kenya

If you are interested in making big money in Kenya and Africa, think Energy. With the appropriate investment this is my No 3 biggest bet that would not disappoint.

The energy requirements in Africa are largely unmet and better still, the demand is growing exponentially every year. What with the penetration in mobile telephony-the fastest growing being witnessed in Africa), Internet absorption, manufacturing, Infrastructure development and more organized farming activities? Clearly these will require huge amounts of energy to sustain-so you can now see why my bet is factual? Don’t shy away, read on, do some good research, invest your money on energy in Africa and you will be happy all the way to your bank; Interesting, isn’t it?

So what kind of energy does Africa need? I bet if you are with me this is easy-think renewable energy or the so called ‘green energy’.

For starters renewable energy flows from the natural sources like sun, wind, rain, tides, geothermal heat, plants and others.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), renewable energy is derived from natural processes that are replenished constantly.

Due to increased governments spending, climatic change concerns, high oil prices, rapid depletion of these oil wells and lessons from the developed countries are driving increasing renewable energy concerns and even legislation, thereby creating huge opportunities for big business opportunities in Africa

In 2008 for instance, about 19% of global final energy consumption came from renewable energy sources, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, mainly used for heating, and 3.2% from hydro electricity.

New renewable energy is growing very fast with a share of about 18% of the entire world’s electricity generation.

The good news is that while many renewable energy projects are large-scale, renewable technologies are also suited to rural and remote areas, where energy is often critical for development.

Kenya for example has the largest absorption of solar energy in the word with between 12,000-30,000 solar units installed in homes every year. Globally, an estimated 3 million households get power from small solar PV systems.  Community micro hydro systems can also be configured into village-scale or county-scale mini-grids to serve many homes and utilities. Biogas is another renewable energy source that serves more than 30 million rural households for both lighting and cooking.

Also growing at the rate of 30% annually, is wind power, with a worldwide installed capacity of 158 GW in 2009, and is widely used in Europe, Asia and USA. Where is Africa?  Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane and it is estimated that ethanol now provides 18% of the country's automotive fuel. I am certain Africa can borrow a lot from countries like Brazil on energy.