Nairobi River

At last the Government of Kenya is making bold moves to move people who have settled on riparian and wetland areas around the Nairobi River.

It is embarassing sometimes to watch the settlers fight with the authorities over such issues. It really lights up the fact that Kenyan people need to be adequately educated over matters that really matter.

Read the whole story here from the Daily Nation

Opportunities in Kenya's Energy Sector

Just came across an OpEd by Kiraitu Murungi, Kenya's Energy Minister and thought that it was insightful to look at some of the areas that Kenya needs investments in.

It is also encouraging to see Ministers addressing private businesses through OpEds and such.

Read the full article here

Fuel Prices

Will the supposed 2007 gasoline demand peak be the last we see of the high demand for oil and its high prices?
There is a lot of weight to this claim because if every car that Americans drive becomes more fuel-efficient and if America thus ceases being the biggest consumer of gasoline, then the price of gasoline would go down. Very interesting.

Read the article on the Wall Street Journal

Lake Albert , DRC and East Africa

Tullow oil was recently reinstated to explore for oil in Lake Albert. Rene Isekemanga Nkeka, the Democratic Republic of Congo oil minister, said this at the back of a year-long debate.

The concessions are really on the border of the DRC and Uganda - which I think brought in the irregularities. But also, Tullow Oil is responsible for the oil in Uganda (Buffalo-Giraffe oilfield is the largest onshore oil deposit discovered in sub-Saharan Africa in more than 20 years) and of the off shore oil of Ghana.

It will be very interesting to see how the rest of the Eastern Africa nations shape up to accommodate the flow of this oil.

Kenya - already has a pipeline to Uganda which I believe is bi-directional. But there has been resistance on using it from the Ugandan side. There is a lot of political risk in Kenya as the pipeline passes through all regions of Kenya.

Tanzania - is pretty peaceful and could be the answer to political risk in Kenya. The port at Dar could use some boosting.

Congo - could export it to the rest of Central and East Africa. But Congo is Congo, there is too much political risk that makes Kenya a better looking option.

The rest of East Africa could actually be net importers of the oil from Lake Albert and use it for domestic fuel. Kenya and Tanzania have to shape up to allow for the flow of this oil if it is to be exported via vessels. Tanzania, if it could improve its infrastructure, would be a good option. Kenya, if it improves its politics would be the most executable option since the infrastructure is already there.

Kenya Fuel Prices

Are all bound to go up and it is funny, because the factors involved are all part of a vicious cycle.

ELECTRICITY

The Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) incurred an electricity bill of 1.2 Billion Kenyan Shillings last year; in today's exchange rates - this would equal $15 Million (this is a huge dent to any form of operation)

You can relate this to the post I had yesterday about rain. Quoting from Nation's Business Daily: (read article here)

For oil products delivered to Nakuru, marketers will pay 70 cents more per litre and 90 cents more per litre for Kisumu-bound products.
This really sucks, if you ask me. That marginal price has great effects down the line especially on industrial production that requires fuel.

ELECTRICITY II

So, if the fossil fuel prices go up, and the price of fuel is raised because of this uptick, won't the price of electricity just go up again and encourage this cycle to continue?

Let it Rain

The drought that has struck major parts of Kenya (& East Africa) in the past year will have its full effects felt in the next months if rain fails again.

Masinga Dam (40 MW Capacity) is in the danger of being shut down if water levels fall below the 1036 meter mark. It is already operating at 18 MW :- 45% of Capacity.

Some Education

1MW can power about 800 *American* homes. If you use my arbitrary conversion rate of 1 American Home Power Consumption = 8 African Homes Power Consumption, then we are looking at an equivalent of about 250K Kenyan homes. (These figures are guesstimates that rely on practical residential power usage and might in fact be conservative).

So what happens?

The water will thus have to be passed over to Kindaruma Dam, which is next in line among the 7 Folks dam that supply much of Kenya's electricity. The water would be used to maximize capacity.

Water, Water, Water...

It is of importance to note that it is actually water that is the "fuel" here and since May 2007, water levels have been low such that the dams have not been able to operate at full capacity or will not be able to operate at all.

I referenced an article from the Daily Nation. Access it here

Green Africa: Slum Cooker

I have always insisted that Africa is the easiest place to "go green".

Read about the slum cooker below - Toggle to Full Screen for a better view.