01 June 2016, Abuja — The African continent would need over $90 billion annually to fix its dilapidated infrastructure across countries, according to a new Economist Intelligence Unit report on renewable energy infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa.
The report, which was commissioned by IHS Towers, the largest provider of mobile towers in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, in support of Africa’s renewable energy goals and is titled, “Power Up: Delivering renewable energy in Africa’ with a focus on solar and the wind.
The report has Nigeria topping other African countries covered by the research and other parameters conducted.
According to McKinsey, only seven countries including Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa have access rates above 50 per cent, with Nigeria and others having 20 per cent.
It stated that Africa requires between $60 and $90 billion annually to address its energy shortfall as current energy supplies are not meeting the needs and aspirations of the citizens.
The report is based on desk research, expert interviews and fieldwork in Nigeria, Zambia and Uganda.
The rest have an average grid access rate of 20 per cent.
“Following high-level declarations at the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Conference in late 2015, however, there is a growing appetite for renewable energy in Africa,” the report concluded. This report, combining country fieldwork and 28 expert interviews, looks at the current renewable power capacity on the continent, identifies the market leaders and looks at the key enablers and constraints.