Boosting energy access in sub-Saharan Africa
02 Sep 2013
By Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
In the developed world, reliable energy is something that can be taken for granted. People pay attention when something goes wrong, like when the power goes out during the Super Bowl, forcing players and fans to sit uncomfortably in the dark for 34 minutes.
In my country, the West African nation of Liberia, living without power has become a way of life. For the last decade, we’ve been digging out from the aftermath of a 23-year civil war that left our energy infrastructure in a shambles. In a country of 4.1 million, about 1 percent of urban residents — almost no rural residents — have access to electricity. Everyone else depends on unreliable and inefficient sources of energy such as firewood, charcoal, candles, kerosene, battery-powered flashlights, palm oil and small petrol and diesel generators. Many of these energy sources are toxic and create pollutants that have serious health consequences.
I was delighted when US President Barack Obama put energy poverty at the centre of his trip to Africa this summer. His Power Africa initiative aims to double electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa by building on the continent’s potential in gas and oil and its potential to develop clean energy.
Initially focusing on six partner countries, including my own, Power Africa will mobilise the US private sector to add 10,000MW of cleaner, more efficient electricity generation capacity, while increasing electricity access by at least 20m households and businesses. The White House has pledged $7bn over the next five years for the initiative, most of which will be returned to US taxpayers because of the structure of the plan’s public-private partnerships. The US private sector has committed an additional $9bn in direct assistance.
The US Congress is taking action to address African energy poverty. Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., the committee’s ranking member, have introduced the Electrify Africa Act of 2013, a bill that would address some of the limitations of the Power Africa initiative and have the goal of providing electricity access to more than 50 million people by installing 20,000MW capacity by 2020.
It is heartening to see Obama, Congress, the UN and the World Bank focused on increasing energy access in sub-Saharan Africa. They are aware that without a reliable power supply, patients are treated in under-equipped hospitals, vaccines requiring refrigeration can become unusable, students cannot study after dark, and routine business transactions are difficult.
As the first female president of an African state, I’m concerned about the disproportionate impact energy poverty has on women and girls.
Globally, at least 1.2 billion people — nearly a fifth of the planet — live without access to electricity, according to the World Bank. The highest concentration is in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 550 million people do not have electricity. Cowboys Stadium near Dallas, Texas, uses more power than the total installed capacity of my country.
WP-Bloomberg
By Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
In the developed world, reliable energy is something that can be taken for granted. People pay attention when something goes wrong, like when the power goes out during the Super Bowl, forcing players and fans to sit uncomfortably in the dark for 34 minutes.
In my country, the West African nation of Liberia, living without power has become a way of life. For the last decade, we’ve been digging out from the aftermath of a 23-year civil war that left our energy infrastructure in a shambles. In a country of 4.1 million, about 1 percent of urban residents — almost no rural residents — have access to electricity. Everyone else depends on unreliable and inefficient sources of energy such as firewood, charcoal, candles, kerosene, battery-powered flashlights, palm oil and small petrol and diesel generators. Many of these energy sources are toxic and create pollutants that have serious health consequences.
I was delighted when US President Barack Obama put energy poverty at the centre of his trip to Africa this summer. His Power Africa initiative aims to double electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa by building on the continent’s potential in gas and oil and its potential to develop clean energy.
Initially focusing on six partner countries, including my own, Power Africa will mobilise the US private sector to add 10,000MW of cleaner, more efficient electricity generation capacity, while increasing electricity access by at least 20m households and businesses. The White House has pledged $7bn over the next five years for the initiative, most of which will be returned to US taxpayers because of the structure of the plan’s public-private partnerships. The US private sector has committed an additional $9bn in direct assistance.
The US Congress is taking action to address African energy poverty. Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., the committee’s ranking member, have introduced the Electrify Africa Act of 2013, a bill that would address some of the limitations of the Power Africa initiative and have the goal of providing electricity access to more than 50 million people by installing 20,000MW capacity by 2020.
It is heartening to see Obama, Congress, the UN and the World Bank focused on increasing energy access in sub-Saharan Africa. They are aware that without a reliable power supply, patients are treated in under-equipped hospitals, vaccines requiring refrigeration can become unusable, students cannot study after dark, and routine business transactions are difficult.
As the first female president of an African state, I’m concerned about the disproportionate impact energy poverty has on women and girls.
Globally, at least 1.2 billion people — nearly a fifth of the planet — live without access to electricity, according to the World Bank. The highest concentration is in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 550 million people do not have electricity. Cowboys Stadium near Dallas, Texas, uses more power than the total installed capacity of my country.
WP-Bloomberg
