Powering West Africa
More private investment in the energy sector in West Africa is needed if the region is to achieve energy security and achieve climate objectives.
The choice facing West Africa, as in the case of the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, with regard to energy is stark. If the region is to speed up its development, it will require massive expansion of access to electricity, according to the World Bank. Currently, electricity is being received by only about one third of households in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.
The authors of a recent World Bank publication pointed out that decentralised renewable energy would likely play an important role in expanding access to energy in rural areas. Apart from lower costs, electrification will also reduce the use of biomass (wood, agricultural wastes and dung) and coal for cooking. “Combustion of unprocessed biomass fuels, especially in open or poorly ventilated stoves, emits high concentrations of pollutant mixtures – particulates, and carbon dioxide, methane, and carbon monoxide – associated with a number of respiratory and other diseases and is the leading cause of death among infants and children worldwide,” noted Daniel M. Kammen, the World Bank Chief Technical Specialist for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency.
“Since the task of cooking is mainly done by women and girls, it is they who face daily exposure to levels of pollution which are estimated to be the equivalent of consuming two packets of cigarettes a day.
“Smoke from domestic fires kills nearly two million people each year, and sickens millions more. This places indoor air pollution as almost as critical a health threat as poor sanitation and AIDS, and a greater threat than malaria. Without systematic changes, household biomass use will result in an estimated 8.1 million Lower Respiratory Infection (LRI) deaths among young children in Sub-Saharan Africa alone, between 2000 and 2030, Kammen noted.
“All of these factors highlight the critical need to evaluate the effectiveness of cook stoves at not only reducing emission, but in impacting health.”
It is clear that lack of access to affordable electricity is a major cause of poverty in rural areas in Africa. A poor family in Africa burns around 55 litres of kerosene a year to light its home. The average kerosene lamp, used widely across the developing world, creates a tonne of carbon over seven years. Replacing these lamps with solar lanterns will lead to significant reduction in carbon emissions.
Studies have shown that the electricity coming from the sun should provide more than 70 per cent of the energy consumption worldwide by 2100. In Nigeria, which has a major energy problem, non-governmental organisations are taking the lead in tapping into solar energy to help power rural areas. One such organisation is Solar Jooce, which says it is dedicated to improving the quality of life of rural communities in Nigeria that have little or no access to electricity. It aims to provide “every rural hut, healthcare facility and micro-business with a basic solar appliance in the next 10 to 20 years”.
Launched in 2008 by David Agbakoba, a member of the Global Energy Management Institute that specialises in the study of energy issues, innovation and ethics, Solar Jooce, a social enterprise dedicated to improving the quality of the life of Nigeria’s rural communities, has quickly expanded its activities to all of the country’s 36 states. Its rapid rise was recognised by CNN’s i-List, which noted that Solar Jooce was “one of two [Nigerian] organisations spreading the use of solar power, particularly among rural communities. The i-List highlights innovation and influence in industry, business, technology, culture. Nigeria was the seventh in the series.
This sort of recognition has spurred on Agbakoba. “Solar energy gives people access to education, being able to read in the evenings; information, powering internet-ready computers; water, using solar-powered pumping systems; health, storing medicines and vaccines in solar-powered fridges, powering sterilising units, and doctors being able to work after dark,” Agbakoba explained.
Solar Jooce believes that if rural communities are to be rid of poverty, the answer lies in rapid economic growth. In this light it is creating small-scale enterprises that replicate its various solar projects. Already, its low-cost lighting kit is proving a hit. Regarded as one of the best lighting solutions for remote areas, especially in rural Africa, Solar Jooce’s Light-in-a-Box provides light and a mobile telephone charging unit.
Solar Jooce’s initiative falls in line with the Economic Community of West African States’ Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, which is encouraging private investors to tap into the region’s vast solar energy potential, with very high radiation averages of 5 to 6 kWh/m2 throughout the year.
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