Dear World Bank

Dear World Bank,

I appreciate the fact that you have taken note of Kenya's Rural Electrification Authority that intends to hook up 200,000 customers by July. At the end of the year, you have also noted the ambitious project to cover 2,000 kilometers (~1,300 miles) of wire.

But I am baffled by your offer of $80 million. Is this to cover this ambitious project? Did you note that rural Kenya is actually spread throughout the nation and not just in one area? Did you consider that most of the power from the 7-folk dams or from Ol Karia will be lost en route to Rural Kenya?

What is annoying is that these plans are way too ambitious and smell of the numerous white elephants that dot the country.

So if the 2000 km of wire is built, Kenya does not even have enough electricty to push through these wires. An alternative solution is needed.

I would suggest something that I have created in my head and called it modular infrastructure (M.I)

M.I is the solution to Africa's infrastructure problems. By localizing energy production, local development is encouraged. The reason I say this is that most of rural Africa still needs a small amount of electricity to jump start growth. Bringing in expensive fossil-fueled power to the rural areas, where the costs will be deemed too high, will not change anything. Instead, schools and communities need to team up and foot bills through structures such as a communal solar farm.

As the local economies grow, then that is when we can start thinking of a national grid. The reason why this off the shelf national grid does not fly is the fact that because of the barbaric incidences of tribal violence we have seen in the past, it is only fair that energy production is localized so that one part of the country does not dicate whether the rest of the nation will have power or not.

Just my two cents,

Oduor