adminNAIROBI. – Some 100 key decision-makers are next month expected to converge in Kenya for the Powering East Africa meeting. The delegates, drawn from major development finance institutions, power developers and transmission companies, will come together to discuss prevailing issues in the East African power sector.
EnergyNet, as it has been doing for the last 17 years, will facilitate the debate by welcoming the 100 key decision-makers to the event slated for Nairobi from March 25-27.
According to the United States-based firm, as the region witnesses utilities across the continent struggling to acquire and evacuate electricity sufficient enough to reach a base-load, transmission is fast-proving the biggest barrier to energy access across Africa.
Presently, there are never-before-seen levels of investment into the power sector – no longer is it simply the poor cousin of exploration.
Investors are said to view power as an opportunity quoted by some as so vast it will make the returns of the African telecoms giants insignificant by comparison.
However, despite over $8 billion of project investments in greenfield projects in South Africa alone, transmission continues to collapse, significantly impacting the social and political landscape of the continent. In addition, this threatens the bankability of future generation projects already under development.
After over 20 years in development, the EAPP, SAPP, African Development Bank, China Development Bank and World Bank together with their public sector partners in Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa are starting to make headway which could finally see an end to the transmission crisis, EnergyNet said. – CAJ News.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter