SBM Bank Kenya has provided a US$17 million financing facility to Safer Power Group to expand local manufacturing of equipment used across the clean-energy and power sectors. The financing will support the construction and expansion of a manufacturing workshop and factory in Nairobi, strengthening Kenya’s capacity to produce critical electrical infrastructure locally rather than relying heavily on imports.
Safer Power will use the facility to increase production of specialised switchboards, control panels, synchronisation panels, distribution boards, meter boards, changeover systems and battery racks. These components sit behind much of the infrastructure required to connect and manage electricity from solar plants, mini-grids, substations, industrial facilities and battery-storage projects.
The company is also a licensed panel builder for Schneider Electric, allowing it to manufacture equipment compliant with the global technology company’s standards. Safer Power says its existing manufacturing operations are already powered entirely by renewable energy through an off-grid system, while it is also developing green-hydrogen proof-of-concept projects in Kenya.
Read Also: Tanzania Overtakes Kenya as East Africa’s Installed Power Capacity Leader
The significance of the financing goes beyond one factory. As Kenya and the wider region add more solar, storage and other renewable-energy capacity, there is a growing opportunity to build the industrial supply chain behind the energy transition locally. Producing switchgear, control systems and battery infrastructure in Kenya could reduce import dependence, shorten project lead times and create demand for engineers, technicians, fabricators and other specialised skills.
The deal also illustrates an important shift in the green-energy conversation: the transition is about building the industries that make the transition possible. If more Kenyan manufacturers can access the capital needed to produce energy infrastructure locally, the country’s clean-energy advantage could begin generating value through factories, technical capabilities and regional exports, rather than remaining primarily an electricity-generation story.
