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Adelaide Moyo Chronicle Reporter
MORE than 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa have no access to electricity, a development that calls for local power utilities to think about alternative energy sources to deal with the deficit, a senior official has said. Officially opening the Power Institute for East and Southern Africa (PIESA) conference in Victoria Falls, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, Partson Mbiriri, said one in five people, which translates to 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa, do not have access to electricity.
“Sub-Saharan Africa is characterised by a low penetration of electricity. “It’s important that we must redouble our efforts to electrify our rural areas. This will no doubt have spin-off effects of creating new industries in these areas, making our communities more economically empowered,” Mbiriri said.
The Permanent Secretary urged power utilities to seriously consider smart technologies in rural electrification projects.
“Sadc has announced the establishment of the Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SACREEE) to be hosted in Namibia. The region also plans to install additional 24, 062 megawatts of new generation capacity by 2019 in order to address generation deficit of which 70 percent is expected from renewable energy sources-hydro, wind and solar,” Mbiriri said.
He said power utilities in every member state should find innovative ways of providing alternative power generating facilities. Mbiriri called for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) between technocrats, the private sector and communities to be able to deal with challenges.
“The issues around vandalism and electricity theft (illegal connections) are some of the challenges we face.
“A symbiotic relationship between technocrats and communities is the best way to address such challenges. It is possible to design tamper proof installations but unfortunately it is not economical to do so,” Mbiriri added.
Secretary General of the International Electric Research Exchange Tetsuo Matsumira of Japan said development of electrical power systems is essential in Sub-Saharan Africa. “Africa has an estimated 40 percent general electrification rate. This clearly shows that more power systems have to be added in the continent.
“ Technocrats have to design and implement innovative ways to achieve those power systems,” Matsumira said.
The conference, running under the theme: “Innovative electrical power supplies”, ends today.
Delegates from 10 member countries from East and Southern Africa are attending the event.
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