Tackling energy poverty in sub-saharan Africa
An attempt is being made here to draw the attention of policy makers, energy-stakeholders, academia, news-media and the general public primarily in Ghana, and by extension to Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), about abject energy poverty, and how this condition could be alleviated.
Let’s make it clear from the onset that in our discussions pertaining to energy poverty in SSA, South Africa that accounts for about 50% of electricity consumed in Africa is not among the SSA countries.
It must be noted also that the substantial portion of the other 50% of the meager amount of electricity in Africa is consumed by the five northern African countries, namely Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. Hence 46 countries in the SSA, including Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, consume less than several small countries in Europe.
CIFOR