Many people in Africa have no electricity, and more than half a billion Africans rely on dirty, expensive diesel generators. In sub-Saharan Africa, the percentage of homes with access to electricity is the lowest in the world. Fewer than one in 20 homes have power in some rural areas.
Dirk Roos, head of energy transition programmes at the European Investment Bank and a member of REPP’s investment committee, sees huge potential in Africa, but also big challenges. It is the only continent where the number of people without access to electricity and those living in extreme poverty are rising, he says.
“Too much attention and investment is being handed over to large, fossil fuel power plants to solve the problem,” Roos says, “when most often what’s needed are small, decentralised renewable energy solutions.”
REPP’s small solutions make a big difference in Africans’ daily lives, says Geoff Sinclair, managing director of Camco Clean Energy, which runs REPP. Developed nations have the means to do much more to help African energy production and distribution, he says.
“Africa’s energy problem is the world’s energy problem, not just on humanitarian grounds, but on environmental ones,” Sinclair says. “Ensuring energy access for all is entrenched in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. If the world is to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement climate targets then it is essential that Africa’s energy future is clean and sustainable.”