Page 19 - Vol 28 Issue 29 2019

perspective energy

the upfront cost of solar, Zola Electric
has been able to provide a clean,
affordable, more widely useful and
therefore popular alternative fuel
source to kerosene, a widely used
source of light in Africa. The company
is getting lights on in more than 50,000
new homes each month in Tanzania,
Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and
Nigeria. Other start-ups backed by
US venture capital – companies like
M-Kopa, d.light, Solar Now, Andela
Fenix and Black Star among them
– are operating on a similar model
(in addition, Black Star constructs
mini-grids). The start-ups are also
attracting considerable investor
attention from western venture
capitalists, with Andela raising $100
million from Al Gore’s Generation
Investment Management earlier this
year, for example. This development
is seeing the private sector moving
to address infrastructure provision
that was traditionally believed to
be a responsibility of government. outstripped the number of people gaining
Electrifying rural Africa may not need access to clean cooking technologies by A further 11 are making
to be as costly as building centralised four to one, according to the 2018 Energy moderate progress on this
national grid infrastructures. These Progress report. In Chad, Mauritania indicator, just not enough to
new technologies and finance models and Madagascar access to clean cooking
available didn’t exist when the countries is actually falling. And Tanzania’s rate reach the target, while only
of the West developed their own public of access to clean cooking fuels has three are moving in the wrong
utilities, says John Tcakic, head of energy remained steady at 2% of the population, direction for energy access.
information and analytics at clean energy despite the country’s progress on clean “We need to do more… to meet
financing organisation Renewable Energy energy access, perhaps highlighting all SDG 7 targets.
and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP). how this aspect of SDG 7 is less of a
Africa, in effect, will benefit from these political priority there. The challenges of I am particularly concerned by the
more diversified power options. “There’s addressing the need for clean cooking dramatic lack of access to reliable,
the potential to leapfrog the West as has also not attracted ambitious start- modern and sustainable energy… in sub-
Africa did with the telecoms system ups, as is the case with electricity Saharan Africa, a region where we need
and skipped the expensive landline provision. While some initiatives are to really concentrate our efforts,” says
infrastructure step,” he told Africa in Fact. underway, clean cooking has simply not Dr Fatih Birol, executive director at the
been getting the political attention that IEA, highlighting the need for action and
it deserves, says Schroth. “The AfDB has the organisation’s desire to realise that.
However, increasing access to now started looking at those issues, but This is matched by the AfDB’s decision
clean energy and improving the private sector companies to finance to elevate energy to its top priority.
the renewable energy mix them aren’t there.” Energy efficiency is (Courtesy of Africa in Fact)
are only two of the four sub- another area that does not appear to
goals of SDG 7. The SDG also attract the same political attention as in
envisages doubling the rate other parts of the world, where the cost
of energy efficiency and savings element of energy efficiency has
advancing the use of cleaner galvanised efforts, according to Schroth.
cooking fuels. “Energy efficiency is an opportunity that
has not been fully seized,” he adds. But
despite the challenges, there is progress
Significantly less progress has been towards meeting SDG 7 on the continent.
made in addressing these two items, The Africa 2018 SDG report notes that
particularly with regard to cleaner seven countries are on target to meet Joe Walsh is a freelance journalist based
cooking fuels, Schroth notes. Between the 2030 access to electricity goal, in Johannesburg
2014 and 2016, population growth while a further five are already there.

AFRICAN POWER Mining & Oil Review Vol 28, Issue 29, 2019 | 19