By Oluwagbenga Bankole
A new investigation has revealed
that presently 621millions Africans, which represent the two-third of the
continent’s population, live without power and the numbers are rising.
The report stated that a kettle
boiled twice a day in the United Kingdom uses five times as much electricity as
much electricity as someone in Mali uses in a year.
Nigeria is
one of the world's biggest oil exporters but 93m Nigerians depend on firewood
and charcoal for heat and light. On current trends, there is no chance that
Africa will hit the global target of energy for all by 2030.
The report says power shortages cut economic growth by 2-4 per cent annually and also added that the toxic fumes released by burning firewood and dung kill 600,000 people a year – half of them children. Health clinics are unable to refrigerate life-saving vaccines and children are denied the light they need to study.
The report indentified politics as the heart of Africa's energy crisis, revealing that the region's power utilities are notoriously inefficient and bad at serving poor consumers in particular. This is partly down to mispricing and under-investment.
It stated that the sheer scale of Africa's energy deficit often fuels a sense of fatalism and paralysis. Yet on the flipside of this crisis are enormous opportunities.
“Sub-Saharan Africa has some of the world's most abundant and least exploited renewable energy sources, especially solar power. With the price of solar panels plunging, there are opportunities for firms and governments to connect millions of poor households to affordable small-scale, off-grid systems.”
Supporting the development of large-scale renewable energy is not just the right thing to do for Africa. It is also the smart thing to do on climate change.
One of the symptoms of Africa's energy poverty is the destruction of forests to produce charcoal for rising urban populations: fewer trees means the loss of vital carbon sinks.
Small-scale solar energy can provide millions of people with a first step on the energy ladder.
But it can't in the medium term fill the energy void left by large-scale utilities. African governments must aim for an annual growth rate in power generation of 10 per cent a year for the next two decades – around 5 times current levels.
Countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda have demonstrated this is possible.
Both have simultaneously increased public investment while attracting large-scale foreign investment.
Aid donors can help by providing bridging loans and helping to reduce risk.
Throughout history electricity has fuelled the growth that has created jobs, cut poverty, and improved the quality of life.
Now, almost 150 years after Edison developed the light bulb, it is time to spark an African energy revolution.
We lack neither the finance nor the technologies to do so: all that's needed is the vital connection of international cooperation and political will.
The report says power shortages cut economic growth by 2-4 per cent annually and also added that the toxic fumes released by burning firewood and dung kill 600,000 people a year – half of them children. Health clinics are unable to refrigerate life-saving vaccines and children are denied the light they need to study.
The report indentified politics as the heart of Africa's energy crisis, revealing that the region's power utilities are notoriously inefficient and bad at serving poor consumers in particular. This is partly down to mispricing and under-investment.
It stated that the sheer scale of Africa's energy deficit often fuels a sense of fatalism and paralysis. Yet on the flipside of this crisis are enormous opportunities.
“Sub-Saharan Africa has some of the world's most abundant and least exploited renewable energy sources, especially solar power. With the price of solar panels plunging, there are opportunities for firms and governments to connect millions of poor households to affordable small-scale, off-grid systems.”
Supporting the development of large-scale renewable energy is not just the right thing to do for Africa. It is also the smart thing to do on climate change.
One of the symptoms of Africa's energy poverty is the destruction of forests to produce charcoal for rising urban populations: fewer trees means the loss of vital carbon sinks.
Small-scale solar energy can provide millions of people with a first step on the energy ladder.
But it can't in the medium term fill the energy void left by large-scale utilities. African governments must aim for an annual growth rate in power generation of 10 per cent a year for the next two decades – around 5 times current levels.
Countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda have demonstrated this is possible.
Both have simultaneously increased public investment while attracting large-scale foreign investment.
Aid donors can help by providing bridging loans and helping to reduce risk.
Throughout history electricity has fuelled the growth that has created jobs, cut poverty, and improved the quality of life.
Now, almost 150 years after Edison developed the light bulb, it is time to spark an African energy revolution.
We lack neither the finance nor the technologies to do so: all that's needed is the vital connection of international cooperation and political will.
According
to the report, the latest Africa Progress Panel report, published this
week, estimates that 138 million households living on less than $2.50 a day
spend US$10bn annually on energy-related products, including charcoal, candles
and kerosene.
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