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Around 13 million more people in sub-Saharan Africa did not have access to electricity this year, reducing the region’s electricity access rate for the first time in seven years.
- The head of the IEA believes that with solar becoming the cheapest energy source globally, it is well placed to lead electrification in Africa.
- Financing challenges and the drive to decarbonisation would mean coal would play a minimal role in Africa’s energy future.
According to the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Dr Faith Birol, solar energy could serve as an electrification solution to the recent decline in electricity access across sub-Saharan Africa. The IEA reports that this year an additional 13 million people did not have access to electricity in the region.
The IEA believes that boosting solar power deployment is key to accelerating electricity access. The IEA chief noted that despite sub-Saharan Africa having the largest solar power potential with about 40 per cent of the world’s solar radiation, it only houses about 1 per cent of the global solar capacity.
Dr Birol acknowledged that with solar becoming the cheapest electricity generation source, it could become Africa’s largest energy generation source. But for this to happen, the right investments must be made. To promote investments, policy framework, legislation and governance must be put in place.
With new coal power plants facing financing challenges, Dr Birol believes the future of electricity in Africa would not include coal but rather would be led by solar power deployments.