AFDB tasks Africa on potential energy mix

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank (AFDB) has tasked countries to utilise other means of power to move faster and unlock all the potential energy mix, which are unexploited across the African continent to meet the 10 gigawatts of electricity by 2020.

At the 2016 Annual General meeting of AFDB in Lusaka, Zambia, On Monday, Adesina told reporters that Africa was seating on at least 11 terawatts of unutilized solar energy, 350 gigawaats of hydro and 150 gigawatts of wind power which must be unlocked.
He noted that 96 percent of Zambia’s nearly 2,400 megawatts of electricity is said to be sourced from hydro-power, while Nigeria’s all time high of 4600 megawatts comes from hydro-power and gas.

He has therefore called for proper planning of Africa’s power development and an urgent attention to be paid to three basic needs of power, which are light, base load for industries and clean cooking.

From Monday, May 23 to Friday, May 27, board of governors and officials from 80 member countries will converge for the 51st AFDB’s annual meeting, with energy and climate change being the focal point of discourse.

Also, focus will be on one of the regional bank’s high five priority areas, which is to ‘light up and power Africa’.