African Development
Bank (AfDB) has said that more than 57
percent of the people in West Africa are
without access to electricity. The bank
stated this in its “West Africa Monitor
Quarterly," for the second quarter of 2014
report.
It said that the percentage approximated
the average for sub-Saharan Africa,” but
extremely low compared with 23 per cent
in the developing world and 18 percent
globally.”
According to the report, with inadequate
generation capacity, low electrification,
and sporadic, unreliable and expensive
service, energy is at the top of questions
requiring adequate policy intervention.
It explained that access rates varied from
country to country, with eight per cent in
Niger and 15 per cent in Burkina Faso,
Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Guinea-
Bissau. The report added that about 70
per cent of the population in Ghana had
access to electricity while 87 per cent
were hooked to supply in Cape Verde.
It also said that there were disparities in
access to electricity between rural areas
and urban centres in the sub-region, with
urban dwellers having more access than
rural people.
According to the bank, the trend is more
glaring in Ghana where 87 per cent of
urban dwellers have access to electricity,
compared with the five per cent in rural
areas.
It disclosed that West African countries
had joined the Sustainable Energy for All
Initiative towards achieving universal
energy access by 2030, with renewable
energy shared improvement and
efficiency.
It pointed out that the sub-region had
great potential to expand its use of
renewable energy sources, which included
modern biomass, hydropower, solar, and
wind and had remained untapped.
“Using such sources would help to expand
access while reducing reliance on
traditional biomass, increase reliability and
affordability, and contribute to climate
change mitigation. Hydropower in West
Africa has an estimated potential of
25,000 megawatts, yet only 16 per cent
has been exploited and despite its wealth
in waterways, it only holds 214 dams out
of 1,282 dams in Africa. In addition,
several in-country lakes and dams hold
promise for renewable energy
development,” it said.
The report said that the Volta River held
great potential for Burkina Faso, Ghana,
and Togo while Lake Chad could be used
to serve Niger, Nigeria, Cameroun and
Chad.
It acknowledged that solar power projects
were spreading across the sub-region,
including the 155 MW Nzema solar power
plants in Ghana, one of the largest in
Africa.
The bank revealed that Burkina Faso,
Ghana and Guinea had potential for hydro-
power while Mali and Niger had for solar
energy, and Cape Verde, Gambia and
Senegal for wind resources.
Source: AfDB