Page 4 - AfrElec Week 46 2022

AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec

The number of people without

access to power rises for first time

in decades, mostly in Africa

COMMENTARY THE number of people that don’t have access to In addition to the increasing number of peo-
electricity has started to rise for the first time in ple without reliable and affordable energy, [the
decades thanks to the energy crisis, the Interna- count of] those facing chronic hunger is also
tional Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report. sadly on the rise again, reversing progress on
The global energy crisis is undermining several of the United Nations’ Sustainable Devel-
efforts to ensure universal access to secure and opment Goals (SDG),” the IEA said.
affordable energy, especially in sub-Saharan Some countries already witnessing rising
Africa, reversing years of progress. According to populations without access will see this trend
the latest IEA data, the number of people around accelerate, with the largest increases set to occur
the world who live without electricity is set to rise in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and
in 2022 by about 20mn to nearly 775mn, the first Madagascar, the IEA reports.
global increase since the IEA began tracking the While modest progress may continue in
numbers 20 years ago. some countries, it will be at a much lower pace.
The largest increases in the number of peo- Bangladesh – home to almost 10% of those
ple without access will come in the Democratic without access in developing Asia – is set to
Republic of the Congo, Madagascar and Ethi- see a slowdown in 2022, especially for new grid
opia, the IEA reports. Progress will slow but connections.
not halt in Mozambique, Senegal, Kenya and In sub-Saharan Africa, progress in Mozam-
Bangladesh. bique, Senegal and Kenya is set to slow, but not
“Ensuring people have access to reliable, halt while in Ethiopia, population growth is
affordable and modern energy services is crit- once again outpacing new connections, a sharp
ical for sustainable economic development – reversal from the rapid progress prior to the
and needs to be a key part of the discussions at pandemic.
COP27. But as we point out in this new com- Grid connections proved resilient in 2020
mentary, the world is going backwards on this and 2021 with projects in the pipeline from
front,” the IEA said. before the pandemic mostly being completed.
“Rising prices for fuel and food are dispro- However, new procurement has slowed down
portionately hurting those in the developing since then, with many utilities lacking funds
world, where they are least equipped to cope. for energy access projects after they prioritised

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 46 16•November•2022