Six hundred million people across Africa lack essential access to electrification, while 900 million rely on some biomass for heating and cooking. To address basic socio-economic requirements and support the economic development objectives of the region, Africa’s energy requirements will have to be met through a combination of feedstock sources, including natural gas and renewable technologies (solar PV, wind, etc.). Natural gas will address the necessary baseload requirements needed to balance national grids. However, parallel investments into renewable energy infrastructure are required to enable Africa’s transition to greener technologies. In addition, an equal amount of investment is required to develop Africa’s transmission and distribution networks to fully achieve energy access targets. This poses a massive opportunity for private-sector stakeholders to get involved in the energy and power sector if the policy and regulatory frameworks are conducive and consistently enforced.
