Africa’s future lies in its electrification and governments across the continent have realised that there is no time for talking.
According to Africa House project specialist Duncan Bonnett, there has been a significant increase in power projects on the continent with just about every country investing in a project of some kind – be it small or large.
“Power is critical to every country’s development and there is an essential understanding and realisation in every African government that in order to progress and to have industry you need power – and it has to be reliable,” he said.
A recent survey by auditing company PwC found that companies and sector stakeholders across Africa were optimistic about a range of key African electricity issues. At least 67% of respondents indicated that ageing or badly maintained infrastructure was of high concern, but encouragingly predicted that this was changing.
According to Bonnett this is very much the case judging by the number of ongoing projects across sub-Saharan Africa.
“With Africa being rich in energy sources we are seeing countries develop and build what they have and that is why the projects are coming to fruition,” said Bonnett. “The projects range from refurbishment of existing power infrastructure to new power plants. The energy sources range from thermal and hydro to solar and wind.”
There is a much broader approach to the types of power thanks to the range of technologies available as well as the various financing options.” He said in West Africa there were several big power projects under way including the world’s fourth-largest solar photovoltaic power plant near the Takoradi port in Ghana.
“What has been very exciting is the West African power programme covering 19 countries that is being backed financially by the US.” Bonnett said plans were in place to build $1 billion worth of renewable energy projects in the region to bring power in the next three to four years to 40 million people.
“The importance of power in the project sector can be seen in countries like Angola where 159 hydro sites have been identified for development,” he said. In East Africa projects such as Ethiopia’s $4-billion hydroelectric project, the Grand Renaissance Dam, were more than 65% complete while gas finds in Tanzania were starting to see an uptake in projects.
In Tanzania, the World Bank recently approved a $455-million credit for the construction of critical high voltage transmission infrastructure to support electrification.
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The projects range from refurbishment of existing power infrastructure to new power plants. – Duncan Bonnett
