Improving access to energy in sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the lowest access levels to electricity and modern cooking fuels' although the region has large energy resources. The electricity generation capacity of the region, with a population of 800 million, is 68 gigawatt, comparable to that of Spain with a population of 45 million. Projecting present electrification rates and population growth rates more people in sub-Saharan Africa will be without electricity in 2030 than in 2009. The major problems of the electricity sector are low consumption levels, high electricity cost, unequal access, unreliable supply, and power shortages. To increase access to electricity the performance of the sector has to be improved in areas of governance, access to finance, and increasing regional trade. At the same time, income levels of the poor have to rise. Eighty percent of the sub-Saharan population still cook with woodfuels on open fires because they have no access to modern fuels or cannot afford them. This leads to high levels of indoor air pollution, responsible for 4.2 child deaths per 1000 population from pneumonia, compared to 1.8 child deaths in South Asia. Kerosene is the most common modern cooking fuel and 7% of the sub-Saharan population use it. Since traditional woodfuels play a very dominant part in the energy balance of sub-Saharan Africa, the modernisation of the woodfuel industry and woodfuel markets, together with improved cookstoves, would bring development benefits for the 80% of the population who rely on them.