Page 18 - Vol 32 Issue 33 2121

energy perspective

Switching on one step at a time

By Joe Walsh
SDG 7: affordable and clean energy
Africa is making progress with efforts to provide people with electricity, but much more needs to
be done to advance the use of cleaner cooking

s a whole, Africa has struggled to In 2016, the number of people without putting in place appropriate enabling
make serious progress towards access to electricity in the region fell for environments for the private sector.
ASustainable Development Goal the first time by 28.5 million, according However, access to electricity and the
(SDG) 7, affordable and clean energy. to the 2018 Energy Progress Report by introduction of policies to address it
Of the continent’s 55 countries 39 have the World Health Organisation (WHO), are very uneven across the continent.
made less than 50% progress towards the World Bank, the International Energy Central Africa, for example, has seen very
their 2030 target from their 2010 Agency (IEA) and the International little progress, as it is starting from a low
baseline, according to the 2018 Africa Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Yet base and has very little infrastructure
SDG Index, with the report calling it a big there is still some way to go. Across the already in place. With solar prices falling
challenge that needs to be prioritised. The continent, only 43% of the population has due to demand in the West and rising
remaining countries had not achieved the access to electricity, leaving approximately supply in China, there is great potential
affordable and clean energy target, but 566.8 million people with none. There is, for diversified grids across Africa to help
it remains possible if significant action however, near total coverage in the North address SDG 7. This is particularly the
is taken. Not one country had achieved Africa region. Kenya and Ethiopia are case in rural communities that have
the goal as yet, though the North African countries that have made strong progress never enjoyed the benefits of national
countries were significantly closer. towards achieving electricity access, grid infrastructure. Basically, diversified
expanding access to their populations grids eliminate the need to depend on an
by more than five percentage points per extensive, centralised national grid. New
Tne indicator of just how annum from 2014-16. Tanzania’s energy companies are emerging, bringing with
crucial access to energy is access grew from 19% to 33% over the them new ways of paying for electricity.
seen for the continent, the same period. Schroth puts this down to For example, US-based start-up Zola
African Development Bank the political will of those countries, which Electric installs solar systems in homes
(AfDB) made energy its top have prioritised access to electricity and across several African countries on a
development priority in followed through with plans to make payment model that allows customers
2016. The bank argued that it happen. This includes governments to pay on a monthly basis. By eliminating
the continent should strive
to achieve universal access
for all by 2025 – five years in Daniel Schroth,
advance of the 2030 deadline. principal energy
specialist at AfDB
To help achieve its ambitious deadline, the
bank says it is revisiting the size and scope
of the loans it provides. “Following that
prioritisation, we have quite significantly
expanded, not only the volume of lending
but also the scope of areas that we try
and provide solutions for, particularly
new decentralised energy solutions,”
Daniel Schroth, principal energy specialist
in the energy, environment and climate
change department at AfDB, told Africa
in Fact. Certainly, the continent is starting
to make progress as regards electricity
provision. For example, in sub-Saharan
Africa access to electricity has overtaken
population growth for the first time.

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