How Africa Can Achieve Sustainable And Affordable Supply Of Energy For All By 2030?

Chekwube .A. Umegboro

Benin City, Edo State,

Nigeria.

4th January, 2016.

TO:

THE UN SECRETARY GENERAL,

BAN KI-MOON,

Geneva, Switzerland.

Dear Sir,

ENERGIZING AFRICA THROUGH ENERGY, BY 2030 IS POSSIBLE

I hope your day goes well. Mine did. I must confess that I am delighted especially on gender mainstreaming issues and its sensitization. And, in talking about energizing Africans through energy supply, which is the epitome of this letter, I intend to use in simple expressions, Sir, culminating problems and arrived solutions to sustainable energy in Africa.

Energy is life. It’s our dependant, without it other life-holds crumble. And yes we are without it. The World Bank has declared 32 of the 48 nations on the continent to be energy crisis. Energy in Africa is a scarcer commodity than in the developed world annual consumption is 518 kwh in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Mr. Ban Ki-moon, lets turn commitments into kilowatt hours for real people! If it is believed that biomass energy, liquefied petroleum gas, biogas digesters and advanced biomass cook stoves are the cheapest options for cooking in sub-Saharan Africa, which I obviously agree with, out of about 1.2billion peoples in Africa, about 620million of these people in Sub-Saharan Africa are without power.

Indeed, the World Bank has pumped in money in revamping energy in Africa in which current projects totals US$3billion but, where is the market? In whose signature where these monies distributed – is it the rural needy or urban rich? Many things also affect the effective distribution of energy which includes ethnicity, political views, religious mediocrity, social status and well, luck. Corruption is of great problem in this fight too. Yes, there are limited water resources but what has happened to those in used.

Furthermore, Africa is yet to tap other energy sources like wind, geothermal, and solar. There is also over usage of the tapped hydro power.

External finance in an ascertain market for the targeted real people, under the leadership of selected graduates, undergraduates, university lecturers, selected engineers will be life changing. Let the UN take care of it in partnership with the country’s government and the above mention individuals in this way, the divergent solutions like tapping other energy sources will be made possible.

Yours faithfully

       Anna

Umegboro .A. Chekwube