There are still some 600 million Africans without access to electricity, a fundamental condition for development, economic growth and improved quality of life.
It is estimated that almost half of all Africans currently lack regular access to electricity. The latest estimates suggest that between 570 and 600 million people suffer from poor or no electricity at all. The figure becomes even more relevant when compared to the rest of the world: of all human beings living in the so-called electricity gap, 80% are on the African continent. At this point, stop to reflect on the fact of what it means to live without a light bulb, without electricity, and what this entails for all aspects of life in a society: poorer health and healthcare, poorer education, no access to new technologies, fewer employment opportunities...
Lack of light, for example, prevents children from being able to study at night and from using paraffin lamps to do so, with all that this entails, such as respiratory diseases. Lack of light, for example, is also essential from the perspective of food, of how we cook: access to clean cooking technologies that do not pollute or harm our health, or the preservation of food itself... Who among us would be able to consider our daily lives without a fridge at home?
Electricity shortages, or having an unstable grid with recurrent blackouts, not only raise a barrier for anyone wanting to invest and set up an industry, but have a direct impact on a country's productivity. For example, a study of 23 African countries revealed that even a one percent increase in power outages would result in substantial productivity losses, averaging 3.5 percent, for businesses across the region. They are forced to rely on costly and polluting back-up generators - all factors that, I insist, take a stab at productivity, entrepreneurship and the ability to generate jobs.
As in everything else, and this is something we always try to reflect in these articles, it is essential to remember that Africa is not a country, and that those 600 million Africans without electricity are distributed very unevenly, that there are countries with good electricity coverage and others with terrible coverage. In Ghana, for example, there is more than 85% of coverage, while in South Sudan the average coverage in 2021 was less than 8% of the population.
The differences are especially evident between cities and rural areas. In Nigeria, for example, 95% of people living in cities have electricity, while only 40% of those living in rural areas do. The figures also suggest that, across the continent, the amount of investment needed to try to close this gap is dramatic.
Africans are, unsurprisingly, the most aware of the need to make electrification a priority in any development plan for the continent. And there are some very ambitious plans from multilateral institutions. The most significant is the so-called Mission 300, a project that aims to 'electrify' 300 million Africans in the next five years, the work of the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the organisation Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL).
It is obvious that bringing electricity to 300 million people requires large-scale financial resources, a comprehensive strategy covering different aspects of the energy sector, high and low voltage grids, transformers... and planning that is also very clear about the need to adapt to a fragmented and enormous territory.
In this regard, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), in 2022 it was estimated that 22 billion dollars a year would be needed to significantly expand mini-grids on the continent (key for rural areas) and 50 billion dollars to develop centralised national grids. To these figures, the African Development Bank added the need to invest up to an additional $45 billion in transport networks.
This is a plan that is based on generating electricity, improving energy infrastructure, updating state energy policies and, especially, attracting private investment through public-private partnerships that give security and confidence to investors.
That side, the demand side, as you can imagine from the continent's economic dynamism and demographic prospects, is assured. Estimates are that electricity demand on the continent will increase at a rate of 5% per year over the next three years, making the need to generate more and more electricity supply all the more important.
Moreover, and from this perspective I have written several times in recent years, there is a paradox: the continent needs gigantic planning to provide itself with electricity but has the opportunity, given that it starts from such a low base, that it can do it better and cheaper than the rest of the world, given the advances and knowledge gained through the development of renewable energies.
And it is deeply paradoxical that, despite having enormous potential for renewable energy generation, including 30% of the minerals essential for these technologies and 60% of the world's best solar resources, Africa receives only about 2% of global investment in renewables.
And it is curious to observe how many of the African countries with the least access to electricity are those with the highest proportion of renewable energy in their final energy consumption (i.e. a greater weight of renewables in their so-called energy mix). And it gives the hint that this is indeed the path to exploit, paths such as Distributed Renewable Energy Systems (DRE), paths that offer immediate, scalable and cost-effective solutions towards electrification, particularly in underserved rural areas. These systems are typically 30% cheaper than traditional grid extensions and also reduce carbon emissions by up to 50% compared to, for example, a diesel-fired power plant.
Let me conclude by recalling that any plan for the development of the African continent must prioritise this energy component, and that the pressing need for electrification in Africa presents both an enormous challenge and an unprecedented opportunity to transform lives, boost economies and build a more resilient and sustainable future. And that in this sense, Spain is a country known worldwide for its technology in this type of renewable systems. From Casa África we have promoted many meetings and initiatives in this regard, as we have an important opportunity here and we must be attentive to it.
In the Global Gateway, the EU's geostrategic plan, there was a strong focus on electricity generation for Africa, with projects totalling up to 300 gigawatts by 2030 and the generation of electrolysers to produce green hydrogen. It is essential to be supporting African efforts in this regard.
However, we have been writing for weeks that these are complex times. From the United States, the Trump administration took the decision a few weeks ago to completely dismantle the Power Africa initiative (once launched by Barack Obama to help Africa through energy facilities).
A project that was announced in 2013 to provide electricity to 60 million Africans through the creation of infrastructures capable of producing 30,000 megawatts. In recent years, the Americans boasted that they had helped mobilise 29 billion dollars in energy projects and improved stability and access to energy for more than 200 million Africans. Overnight, all programmes were stopped and all staff were laid off and sent home. As you can imagine, and excuse the energy metaphor, how unenlightened...