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Africa’s inability to meet energy demand is costing jobs and growth

5th April 2013

By: Idéle Esterhuizen

  

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It is estimated that at least $40-billion a year is required to meet future demand in the African power sector, compared with current yearly investment of less than one-quarter this amount, New Partnership for Africa’s Development energy programme head Professor Mosad Elmissiry said at the Johannesburg launch of a policy handbook – ‘Powering Africa Through Feed-in Tariffs’.

He added that energy demand in many parts of Africa markedly exceeded supply, resulting in load-shedding and the loss of productivity and countless jobs.

“Africa’s population is growing at an alarming rate, increasing the demand for energy and compounding the energy shortage problems. The challenges of securing the investment required to meet the need for increased access to clean energy and the rapidly growing demand, in a sustainable way, are formidable,” Elmissiry indicated.

He pointed out that, despite the abundant renewable-energy resources in Africa, its share of primary energy supply was less than 1%, biomass and hydro excluded. This called for a radical change in the approach followed in the development and use of renewable-energy resources.

However, the main challenge faced by solar and wind technologies was the price gap when compared with well-established fossil fuel generators.

Elmissiry emphasised that measures had to be taken to attract investment in decentralised as well as centralised renewable-energy production, where policy attention had been focused to date to mitigate the price risk gap, promote the use of renewables and attend to Africa’s energy needs.

The new study conducted by the World Future Council (WFC) and the Heinrich Böll Foundation with the support of Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has shown that Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff (REFiT) policies were a favourable tool to unlock renewable-energy development in Africa.

The report suggested that great opportunity existed for African countries to significantly transform their societies and economies if they improved their use of renewable-energy sources.

The researchers put forward that REFiTs encouraged investment in renewable-energy generation, from individual homeowners and communities to big companies, by guaranteeing to buy and pay for all the electricity that is produced from renewable sources.

The 155-page report, which is aimed at African policymakers, civil society and the private sector provides an in-depth analysis of existing and draft REFiT policies in 13 African countries, namely Algeria, Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.

The study revealed that, when tailored to local conditions, REFiT policies successfully increased the overall energy production of areas on and off the electricity grid. Moreover, the decentralised nature of REFiTs provided the opportunity to empower communities and to revitalise local democracy and self-governance by allowing for alternative models of ownership.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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