An Assessment of the Attractiveness of Solar Power Industry in Kenya

Abstract

The primary objective of the conceptual argument was to asses the attractiveness of the Kenyan market to the Solar power industry. The research sought to know from the industry players with current operation in Kenya what they thought the level of attractiveness of the Kenyan market was to them. The study was motivated by the fact that the Solar power industry has of late generated a lot of business interest due to high cost of grid based energy sources. Questionnaires were administered to senior managers/managing directors of the Solar power companies. Out of a total of 10 companies 7 responded, representing a response rate of 70%. Questions on the company characteristics and profile such as the origin and branches operated formed the background information of the population. Data analysis of the eight factors studied employed the use of statistical tools mainly the mean and the mode, factor analysis and 5 point Likert scale. The principal research finding was that the level of attractiveness of the Kenyan market to solar power industry is moderate. This is because four of the eight factors (rivalry among industry players, logistics and influence of government policies, bargaining power of buyers' and barriers to entry) received more than 60% rating making the market unattractive. Those that received less than 60% and are considered as weak factors include: threats of substitutes, bargaining power of suppliers, threat posed by new entrants and power play.