The lack of vital electricity infrastructure continued to bedevil Africa’s drive towards developing integrated regional markets, while energy usage in sub-Saharan Africa had increased by 45% in the past 15 years, said Eskom board member Zethembe Khoza at African Utility Week, in Cape Town, on Tuesday.

The International Energy Agency’s Africa Energy Outlook currently estimated that Africa's energy sector needed an additional $450-billion investment to reduce power outages by half and achieve universal electricity access in urban areas.

Also speaking at African Utility Week, where several thousand people had gathered to thrash out how to power up the continent, Rockefeller Foundation MD for Africa Mamadou Biteye said: “Now is the time for a utility revolution in Africa.”

He noted that 1.2-billion people worldwide were without reliable power sources, with 70% of sub-Saharan Africa without electricity.

Biteye told the conference that a lack of electricity was seriously hampering Africa's ability to grow, including in agriculture, on which 80% of Africa’s economy depended.

In rural areas, electricity could increase household per capita income by 39%, he pointed out, as farmers could run irrigation systems that would increase yield and income, and power up small agricultural businesses.

Khoza told the opening plenary that Eskom currently had a R580-billion capacity expansion programme, with R280-billion remaining until 2018.

He said the 3 000 MW gap in South Africa could be closed.

“There are cross-border opportunities in terms of gas and renewables and additional renewable independent power producer opportunities in South Africa that we are exploring,” said Khoza, reading a speech on behalf of Eskom’s acting CEO Brian Molefe.

Khoza advised that Eskom was particularly excited about the potential benefits of the 40 000 MW Grand Inga Hydro Power Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He said the hydropower project, one of the largest in the world, was no longer just a partnership between the DRC and South Africa, but one that could benefit other countries in Africa.

Power Africa coordinator Anthony Herscowitz said the President Barack Obama-driven initiative, aimed at linking investors and entrepreneurs to business opportunities in Africa in the power sector, had made valuable inroads in several countries.

Herscowitz highlighted that a geothermal deal that was potentially in the pipeline for Ethiopia could be transformational for the country, where only one-quarter of the population was connected to the grid.

Power Africa, which worked with governments and more than 100 private-sector partners, was also exploring projects in Tanzania, Ghana, Rwanda and Nigeria, among other countries.

The initiative was part of Obama’s new model for development. The 12 US government agencies behind the initiative were offering financing and risk guarantees, technical assistance and legal advice on transactions. 

The US government said it was committed to providing more than $7-billion in financial support, loan guarantees and financial assistance, with the African Development Bank, the World Bank Group and the Swedish government having committed an additional $9-billion to the initiative.

This year's African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa had attracted around 5 000 people, including 250 exhibitors.