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Let
there be Light all Over Africa
Ghelawdewos Araia, PhD June 20, 2017
This article is partly inspired by the May 3-5
2017 World Economic Forum (WEF) for Africa
that was held in Durban, South Africa, and partly
by the overall promising progress African
countries are making in spite of the fact that we
still witness enormous challenges for the
continent, especially in overcoming poverty,
illiteracy, disease, and instability in some
pockets. However, this essay is mainly inspired by
the ‘Electrifying all of Africa’ panel, which
was part of the WEF Africa conference.
The moderator of the ‘Electrifying all of Africa’ panel
was the brilliant young woman by the name Edith
Kimani, the Deutsche Welle journalist; the
panelists include the president of Senegal, H. E.
Macky Sall; the Nigerian Tonye Cole, cofounder and
executive director of Sahara Group (energy
conglomerate); the South African politician and
former Minster of Arts, Culture, Science, and
Technology, Baldwin (Sipho “Ben”) Ngubane; Jay
Ireland, President and CEO of GE Africa; and
Jasandra Nyker, CEO of Bio Therm Energy.
The president of Senegal underscored different sources of
energy including coal, gas, wind, and solar for
the electrification of Africa; and in the context
of the experience of Senegal, he discussed the
costs of electricity and provisions to the rural
areas. “In just four years,” said Sall,
“universal access of electricity by Senegalese
citizens” will be a reality. But a challenge
question from Tonye Cole (and corroborated by
Edith Kimani) was directed to Mr. Sall: “Who is
going to pay for all of this?” and the answer
was “the consumers will pay but the government
also will subsidize the provision of electricity
especially to the poor citizens.”
Tonye Cole was emphatic on private and government cooperation
with respect to electrification and he further
reinforced his thesis by telling the panel and the
audience that every sector can play a role –
private, public, and civil society. While Cole
repeatedly emphasized the necessity of private and
public nexus in electrifying Africa, Sall further
elaborated the significance of what he calls
expanded partnership framework, dialogue, and
regional integration. In supporting Cole’s idea,
Sall also discussed the importance of synergy
between public funding and private funding.
At the other end of the spectrum, while agreeing with the
private-public cooperation ideas of Cole and Sall,
Jay Ireland argued “cooperation yes, but
policies should be consistent” in terms of
“accessibility and availability”. More
importantly, Ireland discussed the significance of
electricity for high tech manufacturing coupled by
policy and strategic thinking.
The question of subsidizing electricity that was raised
several times in due course of the panel
discussion was also discussed by Baldwin Ngubane,
who also underpinned the policy of subsidy not
only in general terms but also by telling the
audience that at present “two million people in
South Africa get electricity for free”. Going
between the panelists on either side, Jasandra
discussed in some detail the importance of
renewable energy while at the same time she
heralded the promise of roof top energy.
As has been discussed above, the different panelists furnished
different perspectives on the electrification of
the African continent. In a similar vein, major
development agencies such as the USAID, UNDP, and
the World Bank have been providing various
approaches and analyses regarding electrification.
For instance, as far back as 1982, the United
States Aid for International Development (USAID)
presented, “The Role of Rural Electrification in
Development” authored by Cecelski and Glatt. The
authors first defined rural electrification “as
the provision of electricity to areas of low
demand and highly dispersed potential consumers.
Electricity can be supplied to such areas through
small-scale auto generation, local independent
grids, or a central regional or national grid.”1
The authors further argued that electricity can be used on the
farm in three ways: “First, it may be used on a
day today basis by large commercial agricultural
enterprises, in heating and lighting for hatchers
and poultry farms, and milking machines and
cooling daily farms. There is evidence that the
benefits for those uses can be quite substantial
but they require a reliable and continuous supply
source. Second, electricity may be used to power
seasonably needed agro-processing equipment that
can remove labor bottlenecks at harvest time, such
as threshers, hullers, millers, and
crushers…Third, electrification can be used for
irrigation.”2
Cecelski and Glatt also discussed the significance and
importance of electrification in rural areas on
economic development and provide seven aspects of
the latter: 1) Social and public uses, 2)
employment, 3) environmental improvements, 4)
foreign exchange savings, 5) impacts on migration
and fertility, 6) political stability, and 7)
encouraging innovation and modernity.3
And finally, they discuss three types or sources
of subsidies: 1) Cross-subsidies: from one
category of consumer to another, such as from
domestic to industries; 2) government subsidies to
the rural electrification system often take the
form of interest-free loans, while operating and
maintenance expenditures are financed through
revenues; 3) International loans at concessional
rates are also a source of subsidies for a
developing country rural electrification program.4
(note:
item 3 was written as ‘d’ –typo error- in
the original text).
With respect to subsidizing electricity, and as pointed out
earlier, among the panelists in the World Economic
Forum for Africa, it was Sall and Ngubane who were
emphatic on the issue of subsidy and because both
of them are politicians, they could understand the
lack of access by the poor to electric service and
they think that governments have the
responsibility to render equity via subsidy.
Incidentally, there is abundant literature on the
role of government in subsidizing electricity and
that is what South Africa did in the
post-Apartheid era when Mandela and the ANC
assumed state power. Supporting this evidence,
Taryn Dinkelman presents the following interesting
account about South Africa:
As part of a National
Electrification Programme (NEP), South Africa’s
national electricity utility (Eksom) committed to
addressing the service delivery backlog and
electrifying 300,000 households annually from 1995
onwards. These targets were regarded as “firm
and non-negotiable” and new connections were
fully subsidized by the utility.5
Before the establishment of a democratic South Africa and the
ascendance to power of Mandela and the ANC,
Dinkelman tells us that “over two-thirds of
South African households were without electricity
and more than 80% relied on wood for home
production. Following the new government’s
commitment to universal electrification, 2 million
households, or almost one quarter of all
households across the country, were newly
connected to the grid by 2001. This is twice as
many households as the number of US farms
connected during the first five years of
Roosevelt’s Rural Electrification Act (Beall,
1940)”6
While subsidy without doubt is important in poor developing
countries, some quantitative approaches
acknowledge the significance of policy and
cooperation by the private and public sectors as
aptly discussed by Cole and Ireland. Interestingly
the relevance of their approaches was already
discussed by a joint UNDP/World Bank Energy Sector
Management, a study made on the Philippines in
2002.
The UNDP/World Bank Group approach of electrification
comprises four purposes: First, benefit (and cost)
numbers provide criteria for choosing between
electrification projects or between
electrification project and those of other
sectors, such as roads and public health. Second,
knowledge of the types and scale of benefits that
access to electricity provides rural areas can
help determine the most appropriate project size
(e.g. a massive grid project or a smaller-scale
photovoltaic program). Third, the scale of
societal benefits can help determine appropriate
pricing policies and whether subsidies are needed.
Finally, quantitative benefit numbers are
essential for drawing any objective conclusions
about economic efficiency of proposed projects.7
Beyond the quantitative approach of electrification, Jude
Clemente acknowledges the statistical connection
between electricity and human development. “The
socioeconomic benefits of the Rural
Electrification Act of 1936” says Clemente,
“alone demonstrate the scope of electricity’s
importance of living a longer and better life. In
addition, electro-technologies enhance public
health and welfare through greater efficiency,
safety, and a cleaner environment.”8
One other interesting approach that challenges the role of
politicians and utilities is the bottom-up
approach that was presented by The Economist in
its September 2010 issue. “There is no need to
wait for politicians or utilities to act. The
technology in question, from solar-panels to
low-emerging emitting diodes (LEDs), is rapidly
falling in price. Local bottom-up systems may be
more sustainable and produce fewer carbon
emissions than centralized schemes…The
developing world has an opportunity to leapfrog
the centralized model, just at leapfrogged
fixed-line telecoms and went straight to mobile
phones.”9
While The Economist’s approach is palatable to me, I found
the UN concerns discussed in the same issue of the
magazine in regards to the “1.5 billon people
around the world that don’t have access to
electricity and a billion more have only an
unreliable and intermittent supply” as a more
urgent problem that needs to be taken care of by
governments. The Economist states, “The United
Nations estimates that an average of $35 billion
– 40 billion a year needs to be invested until
2030 so everyone in the planet can cook, heat and
light their premises and have energy for
productive uses such as schooling.”10
Africa’s electrification program is indeed an aspect of
leapfrogging as it has bypassed the classical
industrial revolution and went straight into
high-tech manufacturing sector, but in order to
meaningfully translate African electrification
into action and more specifically into
“jumpstart African development”, the continent
must at least critically consider the following
four ways suggested by Gretchen Knoth in One.org:
1.
Access
to power expands the number and variety of
business and job opportunities available.
2.
A
lack of a consistent access to reliable power
costs businesses and the economy as a whole
3.
Power
allows business owners and employees to increase
working hours
4.
Electricity
provides business owners with access to online
information and resources.11
In the final analysis, however, methods, approaches, and
strategies for electrifying Africa would become
meaningless unless the necessary finance and
technology are met long before initiating
respective electrification programs. As we shall
presently examine in this paper, most African
electrification initiatives are dependent on
outside sources, and the finances and /or
technical supports are obtained either from
international development agencies or UN
organizations, or money garnered via bilateral
relations. Exception to the rule is the Ethiopian
Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD), which is under
construction, is financed by the Ethiopian
Government and the Ethiopian people. For instance
the following “six initiatives tackling African
electrification,” compiled by Devex and authored
by Naki B. Mendoza, clearly show that more than
95% support comes from outside the continent:
·
Power
Africa: United States Government, launched by the
Obama Administration in 2013; clean and efficient
energy for Africa.
·
The
New Deal for Energy in Africa: African Development
Bank unveiled in September 2015; achieving
universal energy access in Africa
·
Energy
Africa Campaign: UK Department for International
Development, initiated on October 2015. Boost
electricity in Africa by expanding the rural
household solar market
·
The
sustainable Energy Fund for Africa: Government of
Denmark, Italy, UK, and US; administered by the
African Development Bank; launched in 2012
·
Electrification
Financing Initiative: The European Commission;
increase energy access and off-grid solutions to
poor rural remote communities in sub-Saharan
Africa
·
African
Energy Leaders Group: heads of state and corporate
executives of companies from across the African
continent; to bring together political and
economic leaders at the highest level to drive the
reforms and investment needed to end energy
poverty and sustainably fuel the continent’s
economic future.12
In the above repertoire of initiatives, it is only two that
can be considered as African, but even one of
these two, i.e. the African Energy Leaders Group,
was conceived outside Africa at the World Economic
Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland. Similarly,
Ethiopia, a country that took a bold independent
measure in the construction of the GERD, is
getting support from outside sources. “Power
Africa is supporting Ethiopia’s energy
development strategy through wide-ranging
technical assistance cooperation with Sweden,
Norway, the World Bank including the International
Finance Corporation, European Commission, the UN,
DFID, and other development partners”13
It is beyond the scope of this paper to cover energy programs
in most or all Africa, but by way of sampling it
will discuss Ethiopia’s initiative in
electrification and its potential in selling power
to the East African region and beyond. Ethiopia is
blessed with abundant waters and timeless major
rivers such as Abay (Blue Nile), Tekeze, Awash,
Baro, Omo, Wabi, Shebelli, Ganale etc, not to
mention the hundreds of smaller tributary rivers,
streams, and lakes. It is no surprise, thus, that
86% of Ethiopia’s energy is derived from
hydroelectric; 8% from renewable energy, and 6%
from thermal.14
Despite the huge potential, however, much of Ethiopia’s
countryside is in darkness and the urban areas
suffer from constant electric service
interruptions. Indeed, Ethiopia started a little
earlier in the 1950s in harnessing its
hydroelectric potential but it was a snail
progress by all standards and measures. Tis Abay I
was built in 1953 at Lake Tana but it had a
negligible 12 MW only. Similarly, the Koka Power
Station at Awash, constructed by the Italian
Government as compensation for Italy’s
destructive measures in Ethiopia in 1936-41,
produces only 43 MW.
Gilgel Gibe I initiated by the Military Derg government but
completed by the EPRDF government in 2004 has a
capacity of 184 MW. By contrast, Gilgel Gibe II
and Gilgel Gibe III completed in 2009 and 2015
produce 420 MW and 1870 MW respectively. The newly
proposed, but not yet initiated, Gilgel Gibe IV
and Gilgel Gibe V, when completed will each
produce 1472 MW and 660 MW; all Gilgel Gibe
reservoirs or run of river hydropower
constructions are on the Omo River Valley; and all
of the above mentioned hydroelectric power
systems, in addition to the Beles, Melka Wakena,
Fincha, and Tekeze combined have only a 3700 MW
capacity, and when the GERD is completed it will
surpass all other Ethiopian hydro powers by 2300
MW.
Ethiopia at present is at an historic threshold of transition
from an agrarian society to an industrial one and
with an objective to achieve a middle income
status at least by 2025. Electricity, thus, is a
sine qua non to the realization of the growth and
transformation plan (GTP) of Ethiopia; and to be
sure, electricity is a necessity and not a luxury
at this crucial moment when the country is poised
to large-scale industrial projects like the
Hawassa Industrial Park that has just ushered its
initial ‘made in Ethiopia’ finished products
by the first thirty five industries. And according
to USAID, “the overall potential of 35,000 MW,
which would help sustain Ethiopia’s continued
economic growth and enable it to become a regional
renewable energy hub in East Africa”15
could very effectively serve Ethiopia’s future
industrial might.
Ethiopia, thus, has a great potential in becoming the leader
in electric power in Africa, and in anticipation
of this reality “Power Africa is supporting the
East African Power Pool, which is based in
Ethiopia. The Power Pool is mandated to facilitate
cross border trading of renewable energy at the
lowest possible cost and to efficiently manage a
regionally integrated system.”16
The Ethiopians themselves have now a sense of grandeur and
obsession with the power dams and the
electrification of their country, but most
importantly they seem to confidently assert the
vanguard role of Ethiopia in the electrification
of the African continent. The uniqueness of
Ethiopia in this regard is eloquently expressed by
Solomon Dibaba: “The Great Rift Valley that
literally bisects the nation into two holds huge
amount of geothermal energy resources unparalleled
in Africa. The ecological diversity of the nation
makes it one of the few countries endowed with
unfathomable wind farm and huge solar energy
resources that remain untapped. If Mother Nature
has to be blamed for favoritism, it was for
Ethiopia.”17
In his opinion piece, Solomon Dibaba discusses the renewable
energy potential of Ethiopia and its capacity to
lead the African continent: “The Adama wind farm
with its 153 MW capacity is the largest wind farm
in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the Ashegoda
wind farm is currently producing 120 MW of
electricity. Another wind farm, even larger in
size and intended to produce 300 MW, is due to be
constructed at Ayesha in the remote eastern desert
near the border with Djibouti, an area with strong
winds.” And in relation to Ethiopia’s
prominent leading role, Solomon says, “With the
completion of the Cairo-Cape Town trans regional
highway and the railway network in the sub-region,
Ethiopia will have an opportunity to become the
hub of Africa’s industrial development.”18
Ultimately the ‘Let there be light all over Africa’ motto
could be translated into concrete and concerted
action of electrifying the continent only when
Africa meaningfully exploits all sources of
energy. The former Secretary General of the United
Nations, Kofi Anan is one of the advocates at the
forefront for alternative energy sources. “New
technologies offer promising ways to close
Africa’s energy gap more quickly,” says Anan,
“than would be possible by relying on grid
connection alone. Off-grid solar power and
mini-grids as standalone sources of energy
generating power where it’s needed, have vast
potential to advance access to electricity in
sub-Saharan Africa…Off-grid solar products can
act as rungs on an “energy ladder” providing a
range of energy services to households and
enterprises with different energy needs and
incomes.”19
It is with Africa’s untapped huge energy potential, the
electrification programs already initiated, and
the hope and aspirations of the African people to
once and for all curb poverty and backwardness and
to pave a way for the African Lions in development
and transformation that all of Africa will be
electrified. Let there be light all over Africa!
Notes
1.
Elizabeth
Cecelski with Sandra Glatt, The
Role of Electrification in Development –USAID,
April 1982 Pdf.USAID.gov/pdf_docs/PNAAQ579.pdf
2.
Elizabeth
Cecelski with Sandra Glatt, Ibid, p. 25
3.
Ibid,
p. 33
4.
Ibid,
5.
Taryn
Dinkelman, The Effects of Rural Electrification on Employment: New Evidence from
South Africa, Princeton University, August
2010,
6.
Taryn
Dinkelman, Ibid
7.
Joint
UNDP/World Bank Energy Sector Management
Assistance Programme (ESMAP), Rural
Electrification and Development in the
Philippines: Measuring the Social and Economic
Benefits, May 2002
8.
Jude
Clemente, The Statistical Connection between Electricity and Human Development,
Power, Official Publication of Electric Power,
9/1/2010
9.
The
Economist, Energy in the Developing World: Power to the People, September 2nd
2010
10.
The
Economist, Ibid
11.
Gretchen
Knoth, 4 Ways electricity can jumpstart African economic development,
One.org, July 16, 2013
12.
Naki
B. Mendoza, 6 Initiatives Tackling African Electrification, Deveximpact:
Business Transforming Development, February 2,
2016
13.
USAID,
Ethiopia
Energy Sector Overview, April 5, 2017
14.
USAID,
Ibid
15.
USAID,
Ibid
16.
USAID,
Ibid
17.
Solomon
Dibaba, Ethiopia, a Power House of Energy at the Roof of Africa, The
Ethiopian Herald (also posted on allafrica.com),
20 October, 2015
18.
Solomon
Dibaba, Ibid
19.
Kofi
Anan, Power
to the People: Electrify Africa Now, CNN
Opinion, March 14, 2017
All Rights Reserved Copyright © IDEA 2017. For educational and
constructive feedback you may contact Dr.
Ghelawdewos Araia via dr.garaia@africanidea.org
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