The African Development Bank (AfDB) released its “West Africa Monitor Quarterly” that details over 57% of residents in the region are without access to electricity.
Two countries doing the best include Cape Verde with an 87% electrification rate and Ghana at around 70%. However, the same isn’t true for Burkina Faso, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, and Sierra Leone all standing around 15% and Niger coming in at 8%.
Opportunities exist for renewable energy to help the region’s power generation, but many countries need to enact government policies to entice and protect investors. Many West African countries have joined the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative, hoping to achieve energy access by 2030; however, local policies will also need to happen.
One renewable source can be found in hydropower. The report said, “Hydropower in West Africa has an estimated potential of 25 GW, yet only 16% has been exploited and despite its wealth in waterways, it only holds 214 dams out of 1,282 dams in Africa.” It added that the Volta River could be used as an interconnection project helping electrify Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Togo with Lake Chad working to help Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad.
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