Page 197 - Contributed Paper Session (CPS) - Volume 3

CPS1994 Xuan C.
Africa is rich in energy resources, but lacks infrastructures for its access.
According to the World Bank [5], over 1.1 billion people now lack reliable
access to electricity. Although much of this population is living in Africa, over
the last two decades, Africa has made tremendous progress on improving
access to electricity for all. This includes major political commitment,
investment and infrastructural projects which resulted in connecting many
millions of households into the grids in some of the regions and areas. From
Figure 2, it is clear to see that a lot of effort has been made when it comes to
access to electricity between 2000 and 2016, resulting in encouraging
progress. In many countries where access rates are under 40% in 2000, the
rates have been consistently improved in the last two decades and they are
enjoying 60% towards 100% access in the whole countries. Much of this
progress can be attributed to improved infrastructure, careful planning,
investment from the governments and private sectors, and an increase in oil
production, and an ease on the trade for fuel products including national gas
and petroleum over the years. The African energy market is benefiting from a
stronger and tighter regional integration in the continent.
There are still gaps to fill in the African countries when it comes to energy
access. Many countries have reached a threshold where their national energy
structures are facing uphill difficulties and increased risks and costs to grow
further to provide electricity access to all of their citizens. [6] Due to many
geographical restraints, countries have realized that a national strategy of
energy cannot simply overlook the energy sources from beyond their borders.
In order to obtain the most affordable, sustainable and reliable energy,
countries need to work together to create a regional network of the resources
and facilitate the trade of energy and energy products. The national markets
in Africa are of considerable different sizes – think South Africa and Lesotho,
for instance. Collaborations between countries and integrated energy
networks are in many times the best and most cost-effective method for
countries to grow their energy access rates.

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