#Morocco : Africa has 568 million inhabitants without access to electricity, with great diversity depending on the country. In all, 6 countries have electrification rates of 100%, while more than half of the States have electrification rates below 50%, according to the World Bank.
According to data from the report, globally, 733 million people do not have access to electricity, including 568 million Africans. This means that Africa concentrates 77.50% of people who do not have access to electricity in the world in 2020, once morest 71% in 2018, while at the global level, 91% of the population has access to electricity. Thus, the situation has not improved in recent years, particularly in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, disruptions in global supply chains and the reallocation of certain tax resources to related expenditure. to the rise in food products and hydrocarbons. And the situation is expected to worsen this year with the energy crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine.
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In addition, the report points out, “international public funding flows to developing countries to promote clean energy have declined for the second consecutive year. It stood at $10.9 billion in 2019, despite the immense needs for sustainable development in most countries and the growing urgency of climate change. This amount decreased by almost 24% compared to the previous year”.
With 568 million people without access to electricity, Africa is by far the least electrified continent. However, there are huge differences between regions and countries. It is in sub-Saharan Africa that we note the lowest electrification rate. This region alone concentrates 77% of the world’s population without access to electricity. On the other hand, the countries of North Africa show almost 100% electrification rates. This is the case of Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, which all have electrification rates of 100%. Libya’s electrification rate continues to drop from 100% in 2000 to 70% in 2020 due to the civil war.
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In sub-Saharan Africa, the electrification rate increased from 46% in 2018 to 48% in 2020, although globally, its position has deteriorated. However, in this region, the disparities are enormous. The best electrification rates can be attributed to Mauritius (100%), Seychelles (100%), Cape Verde (94%), Gabon (92%), Comoros (87%), Ghana (86%), South Africa (84%), Eswatini (80%), Botswana (72%), Kenya (71%), Côte d’Ivoire (70%), Senegal (70%) and Libya (70%).
Here are the 10 most and least electrified countries in Africa
|
Pays |
Electrification rate |
Pays |
Electrification rate |
|
Algeria |
100% |
South Sudan |
7% |
|
Egypt |
100% |
Chad |
11% |
|
Morocco |
100% |
Burundi |
12% |
|
Maurice |
100% |
Malawi |
15% |
|
Seychelles |
100% |
Central African Republic |
15% |
|
Tunisia |
100% |
Burkina Faso |
19% |
|
Cap Vert |
94% |
DR Congo |
19% |
|
Gabon |
92% |
Niger |
19% |
|
Comoros |
87% |
Sierra Leone |
26% |
|
Ghana |
86% |
Liberia |
28% |
The countries in which we find the largest number of people without access to electricity are Nigeria (92 million), the DRC (72 million), Ethiopia (56 million), Tanzania (36 million) and Uganda (26 million).
South Sudan is the country with the lowest electrification rate in the world with less than 8% of the population having access to electricity, despite being an oil producer. The civil war that is ravaging the country has a lot to do with it.
Chad (11%), Burundi (12%), Malawi (15%), Burkina Faso (19%), DRC (19%) and Niger (19%) have electrification rates below 20%. As for Nigeria, the continent’s leading economic power, its electrification rate is around 45%, making it slightly less than Ethiopia (49%). We note that major oil producers on the continent have low electrification rates, including Nigeria (45%), Angola (47%), Chad (11%), South Sudan (7%),…
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Clearly, universal access to electricity by 2030, the 7th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of the United Nations, will not be achieved by the continent.
However, Africa has all the assets to give its entire population access to electricity. In addition to the significant fossil resources (oil, gas, coal, etc.), the continent has a potential for the development of renewable energies (wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, etc.) without common measure with the other continents.10