A joint venture called Africa Power Vision (APV) is planning to electrify the African continent with reliable and affordable energy sources by 2063.
The development plan will make use of the continent’s diverse energy resources in a manner that is in line with the Africa 2063 Agenda.
The joint venture was jointly developed by the African Union Commission (AUC,) NEPAD Agency, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Finance, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB.)
APV aims to achieve an 80% residential electrification rate by 2040 and 90% for industry/business, with sufficient energy to deliver to those connected, while also implementing off-grid solutions and making full usage of the vast renewable energy resources in Africa.
In South Africa, for example, the initiative has plans to develop an 8,000km transmission line that will stretch across Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and anchor in South Africa.
Although Africa has renewable power options that include hydro, solar, wind, geothermal and biomass, about 640 million people or about 68 percent of the population lack access to electricity.
Only about 35 GW of power in Africa now comes from renewable sources of total installed electricity capacity of about 160 GW.