BUSINESS REPORTER
Power Africa and Africa50 have signed a memorandum of understanding for a new partnership focused on attracting power sector financing and developing innovative public private partnership models in sub-Saharan Africa.
Africa50 will be the 19th development partner to join the Power Africa initiative. This new partnership between Power Africa and Africa50 provides a foundation for collaboration in the energy sector at the country and regional level throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
The MOU was signed Tuesday during this year’s Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg which began yesterday.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Koffi Klousseh, Africa50’s project development director said “energy generation and transmission are among the most pressing infrastructure needs in Africa, with important economic multiplier effects”.
“To successfully develop energy sector projects requires collaboration among all stakeholders, so we are pleased to partner with the Power Africa initiative and look forward to working with its experienced member companies and organisations to implement power projects on the continent,” Klousseh said.
Power Africa deputy coordinator Richard Nelson said: “This new partnership underscores Power Africa’s commitment to partnering with African institutions. We are looking forward to deepening our collaboration with Africa50 to finance new energy and transmission projects in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Power Africa is a US government-led partnership which is coordinated by USAID and brings together the collective resources of over 170 public and private sector partners to double access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. Its goal is to add more than 30,000MW of cleaner, more efficient electricity generation capacity and 60m new homes and business connections by 2030.
As of July 2019, 56 of Power Africa’s 124 financially closed projects are producing 3,486 MW of new electricity that is transforming businesses, economies and livelihoods.
Africa50 was established by the African Development Bank (AfDB) as an independent infrastructure fund that focuses on high-impact national and regional projects, mostly in the energy and transport sectors, with a particular emphasis on increasing the pipeline of investment-ready projects.
Under the leadership of Akinwumi Adesina, AfDB has listed electricity as one of priority areas the bank will focus on. The five priority areas, referred to as the High 5s, are “Light up and Power Africa”, “Industrialise Africa”, “Feed Africa”, “Integrate Africa” and “Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.
The signing of the MoU comes as a new report has shown that Africa has the potential to expand the continental economy fourfold, with energy demands expanding by only 50 percent.
The report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) says there are three factors that will determine the continent’s future energy consumption – its growing population, the rapid increase in urbanisation and industrialisation.
Kieran McNamara, an analyst at IEA, noted that these will have “profound effects on Africa’s energy mix and how the economy develops.”
About 600m Africans have no access to electricity, although this has improved since 2013, according to IEA’s analysis.
“In order to start to address the problem, we have to realize the scale of the emergency. And that data is extremely important. You have to be able to define the problem before you can actually address it,” said Wale Shonibare, Acting Vice President of Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth.
Africa also needs to radically increase its investment in power generation from the current US$30bn to US$120bn by 2040, if it is to achieve universal access to electricity, according to Tae-Yoon Kim, another analyst at IEA.
