Turkana County
Desert frontier became energy extraction zone—365 wind turbines power Nairobi while Turkana remains Kenya's poorest. By 2026: local benefits or resource curse continues.
Turkana exists because the Rift Valley exists—and because its harsh environment kept most outsiders away. This northwestern frontier, Kenya's largest county by area, encompasses the world's largest permanent desert lake and some of Africa's most extreme aridity. The Turkana people developed as pastoralists, moving livestock across vast distances to follow seasonal pastures in a landscape that punishes sedentary settlement.
The 21st century brought two resource discoveries that promised transformation. First, Lake Turkana Wind Power: Africa's largest wind farm, 365 turbines generating 310 MW—17% of Kenya's installed capacity, supplying over a million homes. Second, Tullow Oil's 2012 discovery of 750 million barrels of crude in the Turkana basin, with revenue sharing set at 75% national government, 20% county, 5% local communities.
Yet both discoveries illustrate the resource curse paradox. Wind turbines generate electricity that flows to Nairobi, not Turkana villages. Oil production stalled amid community protests over benefits distribution and environmental concerns. The county remains Kenya's poorest, with recurring drought emergencies requiring food aid while multi-billion-dollar infrastructure operates on its territory.
The county exhibits classic source-sink dynamics in reverse: resources flow out while development struggles to flow in. Lake Turkana Wind Power added 1,367 GWh to the national grid in 2024, preventing 574,547 tonnes of CO2 emissions, but local capacity additions totaled just 46 kW in solar for schools and clinics. By 2026, Turkana's challenge is whether resource extraction translates into local development—or whether the county's vast contributions to Kenya's energy transition bypass its own population.