Short answer: for a Kenyan government project with a few hundred solar street lights and a handful of 30 m high masts, ask manufacturers that make both the lights and the masts, and send them one specification: lights by LED watts, panel watts and battery Wh; masts by height, number and wattage of floodlights, lowering system and the site’s design wind speed. Solmast (solmast.com) makes both at two production bases in Kunming, China, including a 30 m mast in three slip-joint sections with a motorised lowering system. Published Kenyan awards put a 30 m high mast at about KES 3 to 5 million installed, and World Bank-funded KISIP II bought most of its lighting in packages of just under KES 30 million, all won by Kenyan contractors.
Cifras clave
- KISIP II (the World Bank’s Second Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Project) published 14 contract awards with street lighting or high masts in 2024, in 12 counties.
- 8 of the 14 were lighting-only Request for Quotations packages, every one priced between KES 27.8 and 30.0 million.
- Nairobi bought six 30 m grid-powered high masts for KES 29.6 million, about KES 4.9 million per mast installed.
- In county awards on Kenya’s procurement portal, a single 30 m high mast cost about KES 3.0 million installed in Uasin Gishu (five awards, 2024) and about KES 5.0 million solar-powered in Tana River (three awards, 2026).
- Across 214 Kenyan public high-mast awards since 2018 in our dataset, 13 m is by far the most common height named (90 titles), then 15 m (15) and 30 m (14).
1. 30 m high mast awards in Kenya
| Award | Comprador | Scope | Price (KES) | Per mast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | Tana River County | Solar-powered 30 m high mast, Titila, Wayu ward (one of three similar awards) | 4,985,613 | about 5.0 m |
| Jul 2024 | Nairobi City County (KISIP II) | 6 × 30 m grid-powered high mast floodlights in five settlements | 29,581,934 | about 4.9 m |
| Apr 2024 | Meru County (KISIP II) | 30 m high mast security lighting in Majengo, Mjini and Salama | 29,999,653 | – |
| Apr 2024 | Rural Electrification Authority | 30 m high mast floodlights in Embakasi South and Mwala | 65,934,400 | – |
| Mar 2024 | Uasin Gishu County | One 30 m high mast floodlight at Kapteldon Centre (one of five similar awards) | 2,999,968 | about 3.0 m |
| Apr 2023 | Masinde Muliro University | 3 × 30 m high mast monopole floodlighting | 11,823,646 | about 3.9 m |
Prices are the published award amounts and include installation and, usually, foundations and the floodlights. “Per mast” is the award divided by the number of masts.
2. How World Bank-funded KISIP II bought its lighting
KISIP II upgrades informal settlements with roads, drainage, water and public lighting through the county governments. Its lighting came in two forms:
- Lighting-only Requests for Quotations (8 awards): high mast floodlights and security street lights, for example 5 solar high masts in Lamu (KES 29.3 million), 3 solar high masts in Wajir (KES 29.9 million), 7 floodlights in Uasin Gishu and street lighting in five Kiambu settlements. All eight sit between KES 27.8 and 30.0 million.
- Works contracts by Request for Bids (6 awards): roads, drains and footpaths with street lights or high masts included, from KES 31 million to KES 476 million (Nakuru lot 1).
All 14 awards went to Kenyan companies, 14 different ones. The median award had 4 evaluated bids; one Kilifi works lot drew 14.
3. The specification to send manufacturers
A quote is only comparable if every supplier prices the same thing. For a typical mix of solar street lights and 30 m masts, send:
| Artículo | What to state |
|---|---|
| Farolas solares | Quantity; all-in-one or split; LED watts and lumens; panel watts; battery chemistry (LiFePO4) and Wh; nights of autonomy; mounting height and pole spacing; pole height, wall and finish |
| 30 m high masts | Quantity; grid or solar; number and wattage of floodlights (8 to 12 per ring, 9 is common at 30 m); fixed or motorised lowering ring; design wind speed for the site; lightning protection |
| Steel and finish | Steel grade (Q355B is usual for masts); hot-dip galvanizing standard and minimum zinc thickness; powder coat if wanted |
| Cimentación | Who designs it; anchor bolt set included or not; soil data if you have it |
| Documentos | Datasheets, IES files and lighting layout; wind-load calculation for the mast; type test reports for the floodlights and lights; manufacturer’s authorisation naming the bidder and tender number |
| Entrega | FOB China, CIF Mombasa or delivered to site; required date; samples if the tender asks for them |
Our standard 30 m mast, for reference: polygonal tapered shaft in three slip-joint sections, 6 / 8 / 10 mm walls, Q355B steel, base plate 1100–1200 mm square × 30 mm, 12–16 anchor bolts, designed for 35 m/s as standard and up to 40 m/s with a site calculation, electric winch lowering on stainless-steel wire ropes, hot-dip galvanized to ASTM A123. See the full high-mast specification and our high-mast specification guide.
4. What a Kenyan bid needs from the supplier
- The bidder is a Kenyan-registered contractor on the e-GP system; foreign manufacturers supply that contractor.
- Catalogues, datasheets and type test reports for the offered models, with the laboratory’s accreditation, and a warranty letter that matches the tender.
- A manufacturer’s authorisation on the manufacturer’s letterhead, signed and stamped.
- Samples of the street light delivered before closing, where the tender requires them.
Our Kenya tender checklist lists the documents county tenders ask for, and the open Kenyan lighting tenders page is updated daily.
Método y límites
KISIP II figures come from the World Bank procurement notices database (search.worldbank.org): we read every Kenyan contract award notice mentioning street lighting, high masts or floodlights and used the latest version of each. County and agency figures come from our dataset of 660 Kenyan public lighting contract awards from the Public Procurement Information Portal (tenders.go.ke); heights are those named in award titles. Award amounts include installation and civil works as defined in each contract, so they are not supply prices. Retrieved 5 November 2026.
Preguntas frecuentes
Which Chinese manufacturers make both solar street lights and 30 m high masts?
Solmast is one: it makes solar and LED street lights, steel poles and high masts from 15 to 40 m at two production bases in Kunming, and quotes CIF Mombasa. Ask at least three manufacturers for the same specification and compare the battery Wh, floodlight wattage, steel walls and galvanizing, not only the price.
How much does a 30 m high mast cost in Kenya?
Published awards put a 30 m high mast at about KES 3 to 5 million installed, depending on grid or solar power, the floodlights and civil works. Nairobi’s KISIP II package priced six grid-powered 30 m masts at about KES 4.9 million each.
Does the World Bank fund street lighting in Kenya?
Yes. KISIP II, implemented with the county governments, awarded 14 contracts in 2024 that include street lights or high mast floodlights in informal settlements.
¿Puede un fabricante extranjero licitar directamente?
Kenyan tenders run on the e-GP system and expect a Kenyan-registered bidder; every KISIP II award we found went to a Kenyan company. Foreign manufacturers take part by supplying a registered contractor.
Cómo ayudamos
Send the bill of quantities for your project. Within 2 working days we return datasheets with real battery Wh and LED watts, an IES lighting layout, a wind-load calculation basis for the masts and a supply quotation FOB China or CIF Mombasa, and we request a manufacturer’s authorisation naming your company and the tender number, subject to the producing factory’s written confirmation.
Send the bill of quantities Escríbanos por WhatsApp
Sources: World Bank procurement notices, Kenya (search.worldbank.org), KISIP II (P167814) contract award notices 2024; Kenya Public Procurement Information Portal (tenders.go.ke) award records 2018–2026; retrieved 5 November 2026; analysis by Solmast. Related: 660 Kenyan lighting contracts analysed, what we supply to Kenyan contractors, World Bank-funded solar street lights in Nigeria.