Kenya calls for affordable electricity in Africa
NAIROBI, Jun 24, 2008 -- Xinhua
The Kenyan government on Tuesday urged stakeholders in power generation and
distribution to come up with quick solutions to the challenge of ensuring
that many people in Africa have access to electricity at affordable prices.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said that this issue is urgent given the fact
that in a continent with a population of about 800 million people or 13
percent of the world's population, the consumption of electricity remains at
a minimal 3 percent of the global commercial energy.
Speaking when he officially opened the 16th Congress of the Union of
Producers, Transporters and Distributors of Electric Power in Africa
underway in Nairobi, Kibaki regretted that in the rural areas,where majority
of the people live, the power coverage is estimated at about 4 percent of
the population.
"I am therefore happy to see that you have chosen 'the realization of access
to electricity for all our people,' as the theme of this Congress," he said.
Kibaki said although there were many factors behind overall low productivity
in Africa, the limited access to electricity was a serious constraint to
economic growth and expansion, noting that in the majority of African
nations, the access to electricity is low, averaging about 10 percent.
He said that the International Energy Agency forecasts that about 584
million Africans will be without electricity by the year 2030, noting that
this situation should serve as a wake-up call to the leadership on the
continent to be more aggressive and innovative when it comes to rural
electrification.
He called upon the delegates attending the conference to formulate
strategies to enable African countries to expand access to commercial energy
usage in line with global standards.
Kibaki added that there was urgent need for governments, development
partners, investors and stakeholders in production, transmission and
distribution of electricity to come together and devise the most
cost-effective and efficient way of achieving this goal.
He urged the Union of Producers, Transporters and Distributors of Electric
Power in Africa, who comprises experts in the energy sector, to take the
lead in addressing the challenges facing the continent.
Citing the lack of good governance as a contributor to the low performance
of the power sector, the president noted that many governments on the
continent have implemented restructuring measures to entrench good
governance in the national power sectors.
"This is important because accountability, efficiency, transparency and
integrity are key to the viability of any investments in the energy sector,"
the president said.
He appealed to the Union of Producers, Transporters and Distributors of
Electric Power in Africa members to strengthen and reinforce the assets they
are entrusted with so as to ensure efficient production of clean power.
"This can be achieved if the utilities develop and utilize human resource
expertise effectively and entrench good governance practices in all their
operations," Kibaki said. The president further called for a deliberate
drive towards increasing power generation capacities.
Kibaki, however, said the implementation of capital investments in power
generation should be undertaken within a framework that emphasizes
cost-efficiency so as to generate enough power to electrify the rural areas
which have in the past been neglected.
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