US-African nuclear summit to shift Africa's electricity production
Kenya will host the second nuclear forum between the US and Africa in August 2024, as the country prepares to join the league of nations generating part of their electricity from nuclear power.
This summit comes after the first-ever Pan-African event organised by the United States in Accra, Ghana at the Labadi Beach Hotel from October 30 to November 1, 2023.
The second US-African nuclear summit aims to offer a platform for U.S. officials from government, academia, industry, and national laboratories to engage in critical dialogues with ministers, leaders, policymakers, and technical experts from Africa.
According to Kenya, a country which wants to set up a nuclear power plant, it will use the summit to its advantage of getting experts and funding on board.
“Kenya will use this forum to make a big pronouncement on what we want to do with the nuclear power programme. Because this falls into something we call political commitment where the top -leadership will give comfort to technology providers dealing with nuclear technology,” Justus Wabuyabo, the Chief Executive Officer of Nupea- the nuclear agency in charge of Kenya's planned nuclear plant- said on Monday, June 17.
Kenya also aims to begin the construction of its nuclear power plant in 2027, with a projected completion date of 2034.
Despite the long-revealed significance of nuclear power, some countries in the world are yet to take the bold step of revolutionising their electricity and power sectors.
In Africa, South Africa is currently the only nation harnessing nuclear energy to generate electricity. Meanwhile, Egypt is actively developing nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 4,400 megawatts (MWe).
In a bid to join the nuclear energy club, Kenya and Ghana are vigorously pursuing the construction of their nuclear power plants which signals a new era in Africa's energy scene.
