Energy is an all-round treasure that has its hands in almost everything humans need in their lives. It is necessary to cook food, light the house, create healthy and educated society, facilitate transportation, do better business, and what have you. It has almost become a basic need to economies and societies.
It is difficult to imagine a time when people have existed without energy. Maybe the best sources of energy that existed in ancient times were biomass. The saddest thing is it is still one of the most accessible sources of energy among many people in many developing countries especially in Africa. What makes it very excruciating is that Africa is languishing in energy poverty while having abundant sources for energy development from water, solar, wind and nuclear, among others.
Africa lags in the development of clean and affordable energy as the development needs advanced technology and huge investment which it lacks a lot. However, by coordinating efforts towards alleviating the financial and technical gaps, African countries can address the continent’s energy poverty. Governments should take it as a top priority and do their best to raise the continent’s energy coverage as the issue of green and cost-effective energy is not a matter of choice but that of life and death for everyone.
People cannot become healthier without a clean energy supply. Youth cannot go to school and learn without energy. It is difficult to create as many jobs for the youth without opening massive industries that need adequate energy. This is but a very small piece of example the urgency of investing in green energy in Africa.
Ethiopia has been working ardently to utilize its energy potential, especially putting in place hydropower dams and wind farms. The country is endowed with a vast source of river basins that are suitable for the construction of hydroelectric power dams. Furthermore, the government of Ethiopia is trying to harness the country’s potential of generating electricity from wind.
The Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), a firm entitled to manage the country’s power generation plants is currently running about 22 power stations of which 16 are hydroelectric and 4 wind farms. From these plants, it is currently generating about 4,818 MWs of electric power from hydroelectric power plants and some 324 MWs of power from its wind farms across the country. The remaining two stations generate power from steam and diesel, according to EEP.
The government executes such energy development projects by soliciting funding from donors, foreign bank loans and through economic cooperation programs.
The investment that the government has made in the energy projects is worth the outcome of the projects. The electric power has helped raise the country’s electric power coverage somehow though still many people wait to get access. Furthermore, the availability of cost-effective and environmentally friendly energy sources has helped the country attract a considerable volume of investment in the manufacturing industry, tourism, education and health, among others.
On top of all these, Ethiopia’s investment in the energy sector is benefitting the country not only in raising its energy coverage but also in earning foreign currency as it is being exported to neighboring countries like Kenya, Sudan and Djibouti. This has spurred not only the economy of the country but also added momentum to the country’s economic diplomacy as well as regional integration contribution.
The efforts Ethiopia has so far wielded could be a good example of what governments can do to expand clean energy for people at a relatively cheaper price. They have to devise appropriate policy measures for the continent to fill the financial gap that is hindering its investment in the clean energy sector. Clean and green energy is not a matter of choice but survival for Africa.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 31 AUGUST 2023
