Energy Poverty in Africa
Energy poverty is a major barrier to economic growth and development in many areas of the world. The provision of this resource is still seen as a single-sector issue and little attention is paid to the links between energy service delivery, impacts on poverty reduction and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For some African countries, characterized by energy poverty, the problem of access to energy services has become a major concern, which should be unravelled, for creating the basis of development.
There is therefore the urgent need to identify new resources (capital, technology, and human) from the private sector, domestic and external financial institutions, civil society and end-users that will complement the resources from the traditional sources; the public sector and the international donor agencies.
The Workshop
- OFID, the organiser of the Workshop, is an inter-governmental development finance institution, created to channel aid to developing countries. The institution foster’s social and economic progress through the provision of concessional financing and advances south-south solidarity by promoting co-operation and dialogue in the developing world.
- The Workshop, while strengthening this objective would promote the goal of including energy issues in the national and regional development strategies for poverty reduction and sustainable development, by presenting the challenges and carving-out possible questions , whereby regional bodies will be engaged to facilitate building Africa’s economy on the resources that existed in the region.
- The Workshop will feature plenary sessions and round-table discussions on key issues relating to major themes of concern, in the energy sector. Lead paper presenters and discussants are drawn from international and national energy industry specialists, policy makers and internationally renowned academics. The following sub-themes and topics will be covered during the one and a half-day period:The challenge of how to encourage regional bodies, for the purposes of facilitating the building processes of Africa’s economy, largely with the resources that existed in the region;
- The packaging of the Energy Sector Projects as viable enterprises, for private sector intervention;
- Challenges arising from the lack of domestic finances for energy sector projects, leading to undue reliance on external financing;
- Challenge of efficient supply and use of electricity, which takes account of technological changes and innovation, improving operation and maintenance standards and information disseminated from other stakeholders;
- The great challenge of how to supply electricity to the rural areas of Africa, due to low population density, issue of remote settlements, and the problem of limited income to pay for services; and,
- The challenge of energy supply.
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