Imperatives to fixing West Africa Power Sector

West Africa region’s power sector is significantly underdeveloped especially which it comes to energy access, installed capacity and overall consumption.

The reality on hand indicate that residential and industrial sectors suffer electricity shortages which in turn affect the countries to sustain Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.

A McKinsey report indicate that countries with electrification rates of less than 80 percent of the population consistently suffer from reduced GDP per capita.

The report reveals that from an electricity-access point of view, West Africa’s situation represents 13 percent of the world’s population, but 48 percent of the share of the global population without access to electricity.

Concerned Power sector experts in view of this development are of the opinions that to move ahead on development of the sector, national governments should take the initiative in a number of areas.

They opine that government across West African region should focus on ensuring the financial viability of the power sector adding that electricity tariffs should reflect the true cost of electricity, costs should be transparent, the country should make the most of what it already has in the sector, and officials should pursue least cost options in investments.

In listing out some imperative, experts maintain that there is the need to create an environment that will attract a broad range of funding mechanisms. Private-sector involvement is critical and central to effectively delivering new capacity.

According to them, “To attract the private sector, it is necessary to provide clear, consistent regulations; allocate risks to the parties best suited to carry them; ensure that a credible buyer (off-taker) exists; and seek support from external institutions to guarantee the risks”

They further argue that the stakes are enormous adding that indeed, fulfilling the economic and social promise of the region, and Africa in general, depends on the ability of government and investors to develop the continent’s huge electricity capacity.

“For the region to take power sector development to the next level, its success has to be propelled by economic growth of the region and greatly enhance the lives of hundreds of millions of people”. Experts said.

A move in this direction in their view will potentially create a thriving electricity-supply industry and an associated 2.5 million temporary and permanent jobs across the West Africa region.

While McKinsey and Company report forecast that electrification levels will only reach 70 to 80 percent by 2040 given the challenges associated with getting the power to where it needs to go. It takes on average 25 years to progress from a 20 percent electrification rate to 80 percent electrification rate, our research found.

Report indicates that Grand Inga, a contemplated 40-gigawatt hydroelectric project in the DRC could fundamentally change the electricity market not just in West Africa by in sub-Saharan Africa.

If it were to happen according to energy experts, it would be the largest infrastructure project in history and has the ability to deliver more than 200 terawatt-hours of electricity the equivalent of 13 percent of all of sub-Saharan Africa’s total demand by 2040.

KELECHI EWUZIE