Africa's fraying power grid

Africa has the capacity to generate about 63 gigawatts of power for roughly 770 million people – about what Spain produces for its population of 40 million. Accordingly, just a quarter of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population has access to electricity.

In recent years, the situation has worsened because of the global commodities boom. With the power-hungry mining sector booming, and the economy humming along, the strain on an already fraying electricity grid has intensified.

Diamond mines in Botswana, a big diamond producer, are sucking up roughly half of the country’s overall electricity consumption. In South Africa, the mining industry, responsible for 7% of the country’s economic output, draws 17% of the country’s electricity production.

According to the World Bank, power outages plague 35 of Sub-Saharan Africa’s 53 countries and outages are costing African economies as much as 2% of their gross domestic product. Also at risk are government-funded electrification efforts aimed at bringing power to the countryside.

Source: WSJ, 18-20/04/08