Power generation
South Africa aside, the generation mix of most African countries follows a familiar pattern: reliance on hydroelectric schemes, with expensive, small-scale oil and diesel plants used as backup. Coal- and gas-fired power generation is restricted to a relatively small number of countries and few large-scale thermal power plants of any kind outside South Africa and the northern littoral. About a dozen large gas-fired plants are planned in Nigeria but very low regulated gas prices and the poor security situation in the Niger Delta have deterred development.
At present, only about one third of all Africans have access to electricity at home. Electrification rates range from 100% in most of North Africa to less than 10% in Somalia. Many people have no access to light at home and even many prosperous Africans rely on their own expensive generators for access to electricity.
Homes and businesses that are connected to national grids often suffer power rationing, particularly when water levels are low at the reservoirs that supply water to hydro schemes.
The development of cross-border transmission lines would help to speed up electrification across the continent and could also attract greater private sector investment. Privately owned plants could take advantage of neighbouring markets in order to make use of the advantages of scale that could make their ventures a commercial success.
At present, the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) is the only substantive regional power grid, although a similar venture is under development in East Africa. In addition, the Ethiopian government hopes to oversee the construction of a string of high capacity interconnectors from its new hydro schemes to neighbouring states, including Kenya, Sudan and Egypt.