Challenges and opportunities emanating from United States of America energy technology transfer to Kenya

Nyonje Otieno Ogutu; Pontian Godfrey Okoth; Elijah Onyango Standslause Odhiambo

doi:10.51867/ajernet.7.4.112

Authors

Nyonje Otieno Ogutu Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kenya https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2341-6805
Prof Pontian Godfrey Okoth Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kenya https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8369-9029
Dr. Elijah Onyango Standslause Odhiambo Bomet University, Kenya https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4048-3962

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51867/ajernet.7.4.112

Keywords:

Challenges, Energy Transfer Technology, Opportunities, United States

Abstract

This study examined the challenges of energy technology transfer from the United States of America [USA] to Kenya in the context of bilateral aid and renewable energy investment in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study was guided by dependency theory. Based on a descriptive mixed-methods research approach in Nairobi County, which is the center of coordination of regional foreign aid and corporate energy governance in Kenya, we conducted the research on technology transfer between the United States and Kenya and addressed the problem. Primary data were collected from a proportionally stratified sample of 362 key stakeholders, drawn from government ministries, energy parastatals, U.S. diplomats, private companies (GE, Powerhive, etc.), academia and civil society groups, and 310 respondents participated in the empirical surveys and key informant interviews. Quantitative data was analyzed through SPSS version 25 while qualitative data was analyzed thematically and record verbatim. The study found that there are large organizational barriers to technology transfer that put barriers to success: 83.8% of respondents reported bureaucracy bottlenecks: donor compliance mechanisms, complicated licensing, and institutional fragmentation, and the fragmentation of government bodies was the main obstacle to international cooperation. And 78.7% reported high operating and maintenance costs, imported spare parts, and foreign technical expertise are major challenges for future project sustainability. Moreover, 69.3% of those surveyed perceived U.S. aid conditionalities and policy-reform pressures as a threat to Kenya's internal sovereignty. U.S. technology transfer is expanding clean energy access, and that for long-term sustainable development, the study finds, will require that the government streamlines bureaucratic processes, local maintenance and innovation models are implemented, and aid frameworks are tied to national self-sufficiency and sovereignty.

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