Kenya–Tanzania–Uganda–France Ignite Geothermal Diplomacy in Paris: Inside the KTUF Technical Session Shaping Africa’s Heat-Powered Future
By Robert Buluma | Alphaxioms | January 2026
On a cold January morning in Paris, far from the steaming fumaroles of Olkaria or the rift valleys of Tanzania and Uganda, a different kind of heat will rise. Not from magma or superheated brine but from ideas, alliances, and ambition. On January 20th, 2026, geothermal leaders from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and France will gather for a high-impact, in-person KTUF technical session, a moment that could quietly redefine how East Africa unlocks the Earth’s hidden fire.
This is not just another workshop. It is a strategic convergence.
A Partnership Forged in Heat and Trust
The KTUF initiative, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, France is anchored within the FEXTE framework, supported by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and coordinated with the French Association of Geothermal Professionals (AFPG). At its core lies a simple but powerful idea: combine East Africa’s world-class geothermal resources and operational experience with France’s technical mastery in geothermal direct use, engineering, and project structuring.
Kenya brings decades of hard-won lessons from scaling geothermal power at Olkaria into a continental success story. Tanzania and Uganda bring vast, underexplored geothermal potential and a hunger to leapfrog into clean baseload energy. France brings precision,deep technical know-how, risk mitigation instruments, and experience turning subsurface heat into everyday economic value.
Paris becomes the meeting ground where these strengths intersect.
Why This Session Matters,Now More Than Ever
Africa’s energy challenge is no longer just about access. It is about reliability, affordability, and decarbonization,simultaneously. Solar and wind are rising fast, but grids still need baseload power that does not sleep when the sun sets or the wind stalls. Geothermal answers that call.
Yet geothermal development is complex. High upfront risks, capital intensity, subsurface uncertainty, and long development timelines have slowed progress across much of the continent. The KTUF technical session is designed to confront these realities head-on-not with theory, but with practical, bankable solutions.
In Paris, participants will dive into:
Exploration and drilling risk reduction strategies
Project structuring and financing mechanisms
Direct-use geothermal applications beyond electricity
Institutional coordination and policy frameworks
Technology transfer and capacity building
This is where lessons move from PowerPoint slides into pipelines of real projects.
Beyond Power: The Quiet Revolution of Direct Use
One of the most exciting undercurrents of the KTUF session is its strong emphasis on direct geothermal use,an area where France excels and East Africa is only beginning to scratch the surface.
Imagine geothermal heat powering agro-processing plants,greenhouses, milk pasteurization, fish farming, district cooling, and industrial drying,all without burning a single fossil fuel molecule. These applications don’t require ultra-high temperatures or massive turbines. They require smart design, proximity to users, and policy support.
For East Africa, this represents a quiet revolution: geothermal not just as a megawatt generator, but as a localized economic engine creating jobs, reducing production costs, and anchoring industries close to rural heat sources.
Paris will host the conversations that turn these possibilities into pilot projects.
Kenya’s Leadership Moment
Kenya enters the KTUF dialogue not as a learner, but as a regional anchor. With Africa’s largest installed geothermal capacity, Kenya’s experience in exploration, drilling, reservoir management, and public-sector-led risk mitigation is invaluable to its neighbors.
At the same time, Kenya stands to gain from deeper collaboration with French institutions, particularly in advanced reservoir modeling, geothermal cooling, industrial heat applications, and blended finance structures The KTUF platform allows Kenya to both export expertise and import innovation, reinforcing its position as Africa’s geothermal capital.
Financing the Fire Beneath Our Feet
No geothermal conversation is complete without addressing financing. The presence of AFD within the KTUF framework is not symbolic,it is strategic.
AFD’s involvement signals a commitment to:
De-risk early-stage geothermal exploration
Support feasibility studies and surface investigations
Crowd in private capital through concessional instruments
Align geothermal development with climate finance goals
In a world where capital increasingly follows climate credibility, geothermal,when properly structured,becomes irresistible. The Paris session is where developers, policymakers, and financiers begin aligning their incentives.
A Closed Room, An Open Future
Attendance at the KTUF technical session is free, but deliberately focused. This is not a trade show. It is a working room,engineers, policymakers, developers, financiers, and researchers exchanging hard truths and sharper ideas. Presentations will be delivered in English, ensuring accessibility across borders.
While the meeting itself may be closed-door, its impact will ripple outward,into national geothermal roadmaps, new feasibility studies, and future drilling campaigns across the East African Rift.
What This Means for the Geothermal Sector
The KTUF Paris session sends a clear signal: geothermal cooperation is maturing. The sector is moving beyond isolated national efforts into structured international partnerships built on trust, experience, and shared risk.
For East Africa, this moment is pivotal. The region sits atop one of the most powerful geothermal provinces on Earth. What has been missing is not heat,but coordination, financing, and technology alignment.
Paris may be cold in January. But on January 20th, 2026, the conversations inside the KTUF technical session will be anything but.
They will be incandescent.
Final Thought: From Subsurface to Strategy
Geothermal energy has always demanded patience. It rewards those willing to think long-term, drill deep, and collaborate widely. The KTUF initiative embodies that philosophy.
As Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and France gather in Paris, they are not just discussing wells and reservoirs. They are designing **a geothermal future where Africa’s heat powers its growth, its industries, and its climate resilience**.
The Earth is ready.
The technology is ready.
The partnerships are finally catching up.
And the fire beneath East Africa’s feet is waiting.
You can register here
Source:Geodeep
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