NEW YORK, Sept 25 (NNN-KBC) — Kenyan President William Ruto has decried erratic and costly energy supply, saying it hinders Africa from fully utilizing its abundant resources for development.
Speaking when he co-hosted the Global renewables Summit with Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Ruto committed to keep pushing for the correction of financial disparities and unfair systems that leave Africa with less than two per cent of the world’s renewable energy investment.
This is despite Africa being endowed with over 60pc of the world’s best solar potential.
He said priority must be given to industrialization and economic growth in order to overcome the crippling energy poverty in Africa.
Meanwhile,President Ruto has acknowledged the power of multilateralism in fostering transformative global partnerships in combating HIV and Aids.
Speaking during a high-level meeting on HIV in New York, he said effective multilateralism allowed Kenya to engage with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and Aids, greatly enhancing the efforts in resource mobilization, advocating the rights of people living with HIV and Aids, and providing inclusive support.
Kenya is the chair of the UNAIDS Board. Latest data by the Ministry of Health shows that over the past decade, new HIV infections have decreased by 83pc in Kenya from 101,448 cases in 2013 to 16,752 in 2023.
Additionally, AIDS-related mortality has declined by 65pc, from 58,446 deaths in 2013 to 20,478 in 2023.
It also shows a significant increase on the number of Kenyans on antiretroviral therapy (ART), doubling from 656,369 in 2013 to 1,337,000 in 2023. — NNN-KBC
