Nairobi, April 2 -- Kenya will allow private firms that enter the electricity distribution market to import power from neighbouring countries, putting pressure on power producers to cut wholesale tariffs.

This is among the proposals by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) to open the electricity distribution sector, spark competition with Kenya Power and boost service delivery to consumers.

Widening options for the power distributors is likely to trigger increased competition on the wholesale tariffs, ultimately leading to cuts on the cost of power to consumers.

High wholesale tariffs from producers have made it difficult for Kenya Power to reduce power bills for consumers given that the utility cannot sell electricity ...