Africa Needs More 7,000MW

{{Africa needs to develop an additional 7,000 megawatts a year to make its energy sector contribute significantly to its economic growth.}}

Prof. Mark Mwandosya also a state minister in charge of special duties in the Tanzania office of the president said last week that to close the energy infrastructure gap, Africa must have a 22,000 MW of cross-border transmission power line capacity.

He was speaking during the launch of a book on Power Sector Reform and Regulation in Africa.

He said energy, water, sanitation, telecommunications and transport were central to the future of Africa and its development ambitions.

He remarked that Africa’s infrastructure gap presented a daunting challenge.

Quoting estimates contained in the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic report, he said the continent must develop an additional 7,000MW a year of new power generation capacity and enable regional power trade by building 22,000MW of cross-border transmission power line capacity.

The continent also has to complete the intra-regional fibre-optic back-bone network, interconnect capitals, ports and border crossings with a good-quality road network and provide all-season road access to Africa’s high-value agricultural land.

Irrigated land has to be more than doubled, the millennium development goals for water and sanitation attained, cellphone voice coverage and public access broadband provide to 100 per cent of the population.

“Not surprisingly, the cost of such an ambitious programme is significant.
“In 2010 this was estimated at $93 billion per annum, including operations and maintenance costs, with the amount attributable to capital expenditure being in the region of $60 billion,” Prof Mwandosya pointed out.

“This is a staggering 15 per cent of the continent’s GDP! And I imagine that over the last few years since this figure was derived, it has grown.

The magnitude of the challenge that we face means that we can no longer continue to do ‘business as usual.”

He explained that private sector participation was necessary to develop the energy and the infrastructure to make service delivery more efficient and commercial.

{NMG}