Short answer: Kenyan public buyers published 660 street lighting, solar lighting and high-mast contracts worth about KSh 5.8 billion on the national procurement portal. Annual awards rose from 41 in 2021/22 to 218 in 2024/25. Solar now appears in over half of new contracts. County governments award most of them, but the median contract is only about KSh 2.3 million, and the market is spread over more than 440 contractors.
We pulled every published contract award whose title mentions street lights, floodlights, high masts or solar lighting from Kenya’s Public Procurement Information Portal (PPIP) in October 2026 and analysed them. These are signed contracts, not tender notices, so they show money actually committed.
Key numbers
- 660 lighting contracts, KSh 5.77 billion in total, financial years 2018/19 to 2025/26.
- Awards per year grew more than five-fold: from 41 in 2021/22 to 218 in 2024/25.
- Solar appears in 52 % of 2025/26 contracts so far, up from about a third in earlier years.
- 82 % of contracts were awarded by county governments; the median contract value is KSh 2.3 million.
1. Demand is growing fast, and turning solar
| Financial year | Lighting contracts | Mention solar | Mention high mast or floodlight | Value (KSh million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | 41 | 14 (34 %) | 13 | 817 |
| 2022/23 | 100 | 25 (25 %) | 37 | 363 |
| 2023/24 | 155 | 53 (34 %) | 66 | 830 |
| 2024/25 | 218 | 81 (37 %) | 111 | 1,389 |
| 2025/26 (to date) | 122 | 63 (52 %) | 74 | 663 |
Part of the growth reflects better publishing on the portal, but the direction is clear: more contracts every year, and a rising share specifying solar. High masts and floodlights appear in about half of recent contracts, often for markets and town centres.
2. Who buys
| Buyer type | Contracts | Share |
|---|---|---|
| County governments | 540 | 82 % |
| State corporations (e.g. REREC, KeNHA, Kenya Airports Authority) | 94 | 14 % |
| Universities, colleges and other bodies | 26 | 4 % |
By value, a few national agencies dominate: the Kenya National Highways Authority (about KSh 1.7 billion across 7 contracts) and the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (about KSh 1.5 billion across 36 contracts, many of them multi-county solar street light and solar high-mast packages). By number of contracts, Nakuru County leads with 188, followed by Kwale (61) and Makueni (45).
3. Contracts are small and the market is fragmented
| Contract value (KSh) | Contracts |
|---|---|
| Under 1 million | 150 |
| 1–5 million | 399 |
| 5–20 million | 64 |
| 20–50 million | 25 |
| Over 50 million | 22 |
The median contract is about KSh 2.3 million, enough for a few dozen solar street lights or one or two high masts. More than 440 different companies won contracts; 112 won more than once, and the five most frequent winners together hold under 8 % of awards. Many contracts are reserved for youth, women or local firms under Kenya’s preference schemes.
4. What it means for contractors and suppliers
- Speed beats size. With hundreds of small county contracts, contractors need datasheets, test documents and a quotation within days of a tender notice, not weeks.
- Small orders matter. A typical contract is a few dozen lights, so suppliers who only accept container orders miss most of the market.
- Solar and high masts are the growth lines. Over half of new contracts mention solar, and half mention high masts or floodlights.
- Documents decide awards. County tenders ask for test reports, samples and warranty letters, as in our Kenya tender checklist.
Method and limits
We searched contract award records on PPIP for titles containing street light, streetlight, street lighting, flood light, floodlight, high mast, solar light and similar terms, kept those that refer to lighting, and grouped them by financial year, buyer and value as published. Not every public entity publishes all its contracts on PPIP, some titles combine lighting with other works, and values are contract totals rather than lighting-only amounts. Treat the figures as a lower bound on the market.
FAQ
Who buys the most street lights in Kenya?
County governments award most contracts by number; national agencies such as KeNHA and REREC award the largest by value.
How big is a typical Kenyan public lighting contract?
The median is about KSh 2.3 million; 83 % of contracts are under KSh 5 million.
Is solar replacing grid street lighting in Kenya?
Its share is rising: solar appears in about half of 2025/26 lighting contracts so far, compared with about a third in earlier years.
Where is this data from?
Contract award records on Kenya’s Public Procurement Information Portal (tenders.go.ke), retrieved and analysed by Solmast in October 2026.
How we help
We supply solar street lights, poles and high masts to Kenyan contractors, with datasheets, IES files and quotations fast enough for county tender deadlines, and samples for bids. See also our high-mast lighting.
Sources: Kenya Public Procurement Information Portal (PPIP), published contract awards, retrieved October 2026; analysis and grouping by Solmast. Related: Tanzania lighting contracts analysed, Zambia, Kenya tender checklist, high-mast specification.