This archive report was first published on 22 August 2019.
According to the African Development Bank's (ADB) 2019 Annual Development Effectiveness Review, the share of the population with access to electricity in Africa has increased from 42% in 2015 to 52% in 2018, with low-income countries seeing a rise from 24% in 2015 to 36% in 2018.
Notably, Africa's total installed electricity capacity, including renewable energy, has also grown, reaching 191GW in 2018, with 37GW of that being renewable energy.
However, the report highlights the need for significant investment in the coming years, as ADB projects that electricity demand in Africa will triple by 2030.
ADB aims to improve access to affordable, reliable, and green energy, encouraging investment, growth, and job creation through initiatives like Kenya's Lake Turkana Wind farm and Morocco's Ouarzazate Noor solar power.
Despite progress, the report notes that only 8% of power is currently traded across borders, and the share of the population with access to clean cooking solutions has dropped to 29% in 2018, down from 32% in 2015.
Electricity losses through transmission, distribution, and collection averaged 17.1% in 2018, up from 15% in 2015, due to aging infrastructure, network vulnerabilities, and inefficiencies in power system planning.
ADB recommends collaborative development of energy systems to avoid the inefficiencies of small markets, including interconnection projects to rationalize generation and trade excess power.
Investing in power line construction and upgrading, as well as transformer station maintenance, is also crucial to reduce costs, improve access and reliability, and attract investments.
