Universal access to electricity and clean cooking remains an elusive goal for most states in the region: in 2022, 600 million people lacked access to electricity on the continent, 98 percent of them located in sub-Saharan Africa.
There is an urgent need for intervention given Africa’s population of 1.4 billion is forecasted to reach 2.5 billion by 2050, which, when coupled with rising incomes and urbanization, will lead to a significant increase in energy demand.
Energy is a significant impediment to economic development in Africa. In 2022, 546 million people in Africa lived in poverty—roughly half of the continent’s population—indicating an urgent need to drive economic growth by creating employment, an endeavor that is impossible without energy access. The continent consumes a disproportionately low amount of energy, accounting for less than 6 percent of global energy consumption despite hosting 18 percent of the world’s population.
When excluding South Africa, sub-Saharan Africa’s per capita energy consumption is just 180 kilowatt hours (kWh), compared to 6,500 in Europe and 13,000 kWh in the United States.[6] There is an urgent need to increase the supply of clean energy given Africa’s rapidly growing population. The following are six evidence-based insights on Africa’s energy landscape; these insights provide the foundation for the recommendations on how to reach universal energy access in a way that is most congruent with the world’s emission reductions goal.
Much of the progress made in the past five years toward increasing access to electricity has been reversed due to population growth outpacing electrification rates, supply chain disruptions, and the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic for both households and governments.
In 2021, there were 4 percent more people in sub-Saharan Africa without access to electricity compared to 2019. Meanwhile, almost three-quarters of Africa’s population does not have access to clean cooking facilities. Recent spikes in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices have made this option unaffordable for nearly 30 million people in Africa, forcing many to switch back to polluting cooking fuels.
Some of the fastest-growing African countries have the highest levels of energy poverty. Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are among the five fastest-growing countries in the world. Nigeria has been experiencing an energy crisis for decades, leaving 90 million people without access to electricity. The country has the highest level of absolute energy poverty in the world and accounts for 12 percent of the global energy access deficit.
This deficit has continued to grow over time, increasing by 7 million people over the past decade. Energy inequality also remains pervasive; 84 percent of urban areas have access to power, compared to 26 percent of rural ones. Likewise, the DRC has one of the lowest energy access rates in the world—just 20 percent of its population is projected to have access to modern energy by 2030. It is home to the third-largest population in the world without electricity access
A significant consumer disparity exists within the country, where just 1 percent of the rural population has access to modern energy, compared to 41 percent of the urban population.
Without significant intervention, Africa’s energy supply will not keep pace with the rising demand stemming from increasing urbanization, economic growth, and a rapidly growing population. Africa’s 1.4 billion population is forecasted to reach 2.5 billion by 2050, at which point the continent will be home to five of the eight most populous countries, with Nigeria surpassing the United States to become the third-largest country in the world.
These countries will struggle to economically develop and reduce poverty without energy.
A Guest Editorial