AFRICA INC.
Electricity to light up Africa and provide her with more economic power should be a basis for getting rural Africa to become part of the Africa’s new open-border protocols otherwise known as African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) which kicked off on New Year’s day. An important segment of Africa’s economic future is represented by the more than half a billion of her people living in rural areas. Plus the latest standings on the African bourse from Cairo to Jo’burg… Your comments are welcome..Editor.
Grid or solar: Which Best Serves As Energy Solution For Rural Africa’s Needs?
South Asia has made tremendous progress in connecting rural areas to the electricity grid but the number of people in Africa without access has scarcely changed since 2010. More than half a billion people in Africa don’t have access to electricity, meaning the continent hosts 72% of the world’s non-electrified population. The UN Sustainable Development Goals have set a universal goal of ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030. To achieve this, the continent will require a big electrification push.
But what kind of electricity makes sense in rural Africa to make the most of available budgets? Over the past decade or so, a range of new off-grid solar products has emerged. They don’t run machinery, but they light rooms, power radios, or TVs and charge mobile phones. They’re substantially cheaper than expanding the national electricity grid.