The African Leapfrog
Africa never built a telephone cable network that satisfied demand. In fact, it did not even come close. Only 12 million fixed telephones lines exist for a continent of 1.2 billion people. Fortunately, Africa will never have to. With the advent of cellphones, Africans have a decentralized, cheaper way to communicate, leaving traditional telephone lines obsolete. Today there are over 500 million mobile connections, and Africa has leapfrogged the outdated telephone infrastructure that other more developed continents used.
The solution to Africa’s communication problem might be instructive for solving its energy crisis. Currently, 600 million people do not have access to an electricity grid. With the highest population growth rate, a continent 10 times larger than India, and families living on $4-5 a day, Africa might struggle implementing a traditional energy grid model. Accordingly, the returns on grid energy likely will not justify the large investment.
As with telephone lines, decentralizing through new technology might once more be the answer. Solar panels require a tiny fraction of the infrastructure and investment that nuclear plants and coal factories do. They also provide significant savings for consumers: the 7 million Africans that have exchanged kerosene lamps for solar LED lights in Tanzania have saved a dollar a week. This matters for Sub-Saharans who live on roughly a dollar a week.
While solar panels are criticized for low energy efficiency and output, they meet the demand of communities that do not consume large volumes of energy. Solar power is also easily expanded and connected to meet a higher demand: simply install another panel and connect it to an electronic device.
Other decentralized renewables seem similar effective and scalable. Rwanda is implementing a plan for 100% renewable energy by 2020, and half of this plan consists of micro-hydro-generation. Cost per Kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity from renewable energy sources has fallen 70% in South Africa in the last 4 years with 10% of the country’s total energy coming from renewables. Larger economies are also saving with localized renewables, not just remote African villages.
Africa might be behind in the energy race but, with some smart cleantech solutions, it just might be able to hop over both the grid and its energy troubles.
Sources
http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/media/weowebsite/energydevelopment/WEO2009_Chpt2.pdf
https://www.lightingafrica.org
https://www.solar-aid.org/assets/Uploads/Award-logos/Economic-theme-sheet-external-KH-01.08.13.pdf
https://about.bnef.com/blog/rwanda-100-clean-energy-access-plan/
https://wall.alphacoders.com/big.php?i=525386