Energy

Access to reliable, affordable, and constant power supply has continuously been a problem in sub-Saharan Africa for a long time, impairing economic growth. As the population in the region increases, the enormity of the problem becomes more evident. InEnergy in Africa Challenges and Opportunitiesby Manfred Hafner and Simone Tagliapietra Lucia de Strasser, in 2018, about 600 million people out of 1.07 billion in sub-Saharan Africa did not have access to electricity. While there are efforts to increase access to electricity, population growth outpaces these efforts. Interestingly, some parts of Africa have high connection rates. According to Afrobarometer, Egypt has a 100% connection rate, South Africa, 95%; and Nigeria, 90%. Continue reading Image: techpoint.africa

Two weeks ago, I tried renewing energy credits online via my bank’s website. I got debited instantly and immediately proceeded to check if power was restored. It wasn’t and I didn’t receive a refund until a week later. Although in the past, I have successfully used the system a few times, the unreliability of the service is a problem for many. At least 30,000 electronic payment transactions fail every day, according to one Nigerian commercial bank. Nigeria is a nation where its citizens live with limited power daily. Last month, the power supply droppedfrom 4,000 megawatts to 2,039 megawatts, grossly insufficient for a nation of 180 million people. The power generated dropped due to a shortage of gas supply to power stations. If all the country’s power facilities work to thei...

Tesla backed ZOLA Electric is solving Africa’s energy shortage by digitising energy

Can Nigeria’s tech community contribute to solving the country’s energy crisis?