Kenya has promised the top 200 industrial power consumers dedicated direct lines to alleviate frequent power outages, which has led to losses in millions of dollars for manufacturers in the East African country.

“We want to give you better base load power – power which is available at all times,” said Davis Chirchir, Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum at an investors’ forum organized by Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) and sponsored by Kenya Power Ltd.

Chirchir noted that the country’s expensive power was running industries aground.

He therefore promised more reliable and cheaper power, with Geothermal power expected to add 100MW to the national grid at the end of 2015. It is part of the planned 5,000 MW projected to be generated from geothermal sources.

“Manufacturing has been contributing to GDP growth at around 13 percent but in recent times this has gone down to 8.9 percent and the absence of the expansion in the sector has been constrained by energy,” said Ms. Betty Maina, CEO of the KAM.

She noted that expensive power hinders economic growth, stressing that energy was key to industrialization and poverty eradication.

The event was held as part of a series of road show embarked on by Kenya Power Ltd, which has gone round the country in the past few months to inform the public and stakeholders of plans aimed at improving power in the country.