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Ambassador V. B. Soni, Chairman, Overseas Infrastructure Alliance (India) Pvt. Ltd., in his opening remarks said that power is central to Africa's growth and development in the coming years. A quick glance at a night satellite photograph of the globe will show that while the lights of Europe and America twinkle brightly, Africa is swathed in a cloak of blankness. An estimated half a billion people in the Africa do not have any electricity.
He reiterated the World Bank estimates that lack of reliable power is clipping more than 2% off the annual growth rates of the worst-hit African countries. According to a report published in The Economist, Africa accounts for over a sixth of the world's population, but generates only 4% of the global electricity. Three-quarters of that is used by South Africa, Egypt and the other countries in the North African region.
An estimated 500 million sub-Saharan Africans are without access to "modern energy". The situation is bound to get worse as the demand for power continues to grow, he said, adding that the continent is largely dependent on hydropower. Yet, many of Africa's dams often operate below capacity. But, it needs to be said that Africa is endowed with resources vast enough to meet all its energy needs.
The continent has some of the largest water courses in the world - the Nile, Congo, Niger, Volta and Zambezi river systems. The hydro potential of the Democratic Republic of Congo alone is estimated to be sufficient to provide three times as much power as Africa currently consumes. This potential remains largely untapped. The DR Congo has invited Indian companies to participate in the development of hydro electricity and in installing hydro electric transmission lines there.
Ambassador Soni said that Indian power companies thus see a gamut of business opportunities in Africa. Bio-electricity generation is another area of opportunity for business and investment in Africa.
Indian companies also see opportunities in power pools that have come up or are being planned in parts of Africa. One such is the Western African Power Pool (WAPP). ECOWAS estimates that 5,600 km of electricity lines connecting segments of national grids will be put in place. About $11.8 billion will be needed for the necessary power lines and new generating plants. This infrastructure would give the ECOWAS sub-region an installed capacity of 10,000 MW.
The major sources of electricity under the power pool would be hydroelectricity and gas fuel thermal stations. Hydropower would mainly generated on the Niger (Nigeria), Volta (Ghana), Bafing (Mali) and Bandama (Cote d'lvoire) rivers.
Rural electrification in the African states is yet another investment opportunity for Indian Firms. Only 23% of sub-Saharan Africa has access to electricity. Electricity will create valuable income opportunities and lower incentives for the rural people to migrate to the urban areas.
Few Africans in rural areas have access to electricity. Connecting them to national grids will be slow and expensive. Small windmills, water mills, solar panels and biomass furnaces could have a big collective impact. The World Bank has rolled out "Lighting Africa", an ambitious effort to get 250 million of the poorest Africans on clean-energy lighting by 2030, he said.
Much of Africa is well exposed to sunlight- so, solar could be particularly useful in areas far from national grids, he added.
Ambassador Soni said since most African states also lack a robust power transmission and distribution system, Indian companies could help to build the conventional distribution system. These could be designed keeping in mind the remote and unattended operations in Africa.
Energising Africa will also depend to a large extent on the regional integration of the power generation, transmission and distribution networks. Once the cross-border energy networks are in place, countries with surplus power could run their station at optimum output without risking oversupply. Conversely, countries with limited generation capacity could access affordable power without building costly facilities. Power Pooling also diversifies energy sources.
The bleak power scenario in Africa presents an opportunity for Indian companies to strike project partnerships with the local players. With Africa poised to make significant investments in power projects in the next few years, Indian companies are increasingly flocking to the continent to win large contracts, he said. |
