Ethiopia gets a headstart in power race

Power. That is one of the biggest challenges facing the mining sector across Africa. “Mining is power-intensive and Africa does not have enough power,” said Paul Runge, managing director of Africa Project Access. “African governments realise they need to invest in power and so there is a definite drive on the continent and we are seeing more and more power projects under way.” Duncan Bonnett of Whitehouse & Associates agreed, saying the cost of generating power had substantially increased while many countries faced severe shortages. He said while the collapse of the oil price would benefit those mines running diesel generators, the bigger problem around power generation was negatively affecting mining in general. According to Runge one country that has come to realise the importance of power is Ethiopia. “It is one of those countries that is underestimated but they have invested heavily into hydro dam projects to address their power issues. It is one of the countries in Africa that understands the requirements of what it needs to move forward and is making great strides in creating the right environment.” He said having taken giant strides in improving power supply the country would soon be an exporter of power. “That is not saying they don’t have challenges to overcome but they are making fast progress.” Runge said as a whole East African countries were making great strides. “They are doing a lot from a regional perspective – more so than elsewhere in Africa. These countries have achieved far greater degrees of collaboration than any other region.”