Browsing: Access to electricity

electricity access in Africa

World Bank: Access to electricity in African states increasing at a slow pace

Business
  • Africa’s low electricity access stresses the need to double more than the efforts to meet SGD 7.1 by 2030.
  • In Kenya, data by the lender shows 71 per cent of the population had access to electricity in 2021, compared to about 14 per cent in 2000.
  • World Bank further identifies a stark divide in global access to electricity between urban and rural areas.

Sub-Saharan African states have made tremendous progress in electricity access in the past two decades, with the access rate rising from 25 per cent in 2000 to 48 per cent in 2020.

However, according to the World Bank, countries must double their electrification efforts to bring electricity to all by 2030, meeting Sustainable Development Goal Seven.

“Global access to electricity is increasing at a slow pace, with the progress towards achieving universal access to electricity being slow over the last 20 years,” …

Vehicles submerged in water after torrential rains. Africa suffers the brunt of climate change effects despite being the least GHGs emitter. www.theexchange.africa

Low-carbon approach to developing clean energy sources in Africa

Industry and Trade

This, in a fair world, would mean that the international community is obliged to support the continent’s switch to renewable energy. However, since this is not the case, Africa has to make the best with what is at its disposal.

Since coal, oil and traditional biomass remain easily accessible as sources of energy, should the continent even bother switching to the unreliable yet expensive renewable energy?

The possibility of this question being debated with not positive outcome is high but the reality remains that Africa’s renewable energy potential is excellent due to the fact that it has diverse sources which could provide unlimited energy if well-tapped and harnessed. …