By BBC News
Africa is both the world’s least electrified continent and the most vulnerable to climate change.
And as the continent with the world’s fastest growing population, the decisions that African politicians make to boost power supplies could have an impact both locally and globally.
The conundrum is how to meet the demand for energy without making the climate situation worse.
There is a large amount of investment, much of it from overseas, going into renewable sources. But the continent also has untapped reserves of oil and natural gas, which it aims to exploit.
Africa’s largest power producer, South Africa, faces an additional dilemma of moving away from coal-fired power stations, which produce nearly all of its energy. It is one of the dirtiest fuels, and is damaging the health of some of the people living near where it is burnt.
More than two thirds of the population of sub-Saharan Africa, more than 600 million people, lack access to electricity. But electrification on the continent is still growing more slowly than anywhere else in the world, despite pledges to light up Africa in the next few decades.
Rise of renewable power
Investment is going into solar power, wind power and hydropower projects across the continent as part of efforts to change the energy mix.
Last year, Kenya unveiled Africa’s largest wind farm near Lake Turkana. More than 350 turbines can produce up to 310 MW, which is about 17% of the country’s current daytime energy demand, the company behind the wind farm says. Read more>>
