Kenya has called on African countries to develop an industrial sector that supports the introduction of nuclear energy.
Nuclear Power and Energy Agency CEO Justus Wabuyabo, while closing the US-Africa Nuclear Energy Summit 2024 in Nairobi, urged participants of the meeting to translate resolutions of the conference into a continental strategy.
“The nuclear power and industry relationship is indeed symbiotic and quite essential for the African continental socioeconomic transformation agenda,” he said.
Delegates at the conference were drawn from the USA, South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, France, Botswana, Cameroon, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Morocco, Austria, Somalia, Benin, Namibia, and Mauritius.
Kenya and several African countries among them Uganda and Rwanda are planning to build nuclear plants or are actively seeking partnerships with the West to set up Small Modular Reactors.
Wabuyabo added that the adoption of nuclear technology to complement the other viable energy sources in the medium to long term remains a shared vision across the African continent.
“Let us all remain steadfast in the quest for the deployment of nuclear technology interventions across all sectors for the benefit of mankind, by implementing the resolutions, lessons and observations brought forth in the summit,” he said.
He added that capacity building remains a key focus for the continent as Africa embarks on nuclear technology.
“We appreciate the efforts made by the embarking African nations, who are at different levels of development or implementation of their programmes,” he added.
Wabuyabo said the meeting’s interactive sessions, guided by the experts will go a long way in addressing the challenges around the three key issues of human capital development, stakeholder engagement, and financing of the nuclear power plants.
He termed the resolutions of the meeting as tangible, saying they were based on the shared lessons and best practices.
The next US-Africa Nuclear Energy Summit 2025 will be held in Kigali, Rwanda.
