WEF Kigali meeting to address skills, energy gap
The World Economic Forum for Africa, scheduled to kick off in Kigali tomorrow, will be an opportunity to create awareness about the anticipated Fourth Industrial Revolution, which technology enthusiasts term as ‘disruptive.’
Organisers say the forum will be a platform to discuss the changes expected in economies, corporations and societies courtesy of the industrial era, as well as deliberate on opportunities within and emerging risks.
The forum will run under the theme, “Connecting Africa’s Resources through Digital Transformation.” Read more. Source | New Times
Tea farmers group recognised for efforts to combat climate change
In the face of global challenges like climate change, there are communities working towards adapting their business accordingly while conserving the environment.
Last week, Kayonza Tea Growers’ Factory, from Kanungu District in Uganda was recognised by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for advancing local solutions to protect the environment.
With their community facing deforestation, wetland encroachment, soil degradation and water shortages.
The community enterprise ensures at least 70 per cent of the population is involved in a landscape-scale, community-led climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy that addresses energy efficiency, food and income security and natural resource management. Read more. Source | Daily Monitor
Cheaper power boosts Kenya’s private sector
Cheaper power and the falling cost of fuel are among the reasons making Kenya’s private sector expand rapidly and gain stability, a survey has said.
Findings from the study depict an overall improvement in the country’s business environment over the past 14 months.
The first Purchasing Manager index (PMI) report in the country was conducted by global financial information service provider Markit and CfC Stanbic. Read more. Source | Daily Nation
Powering Africa
Countries with electrification rates of less than 80 percent of the population consistently suffer from reduced GDP per capita. The only countries that have electrification rates of less than 80 percent with GDP per capita greater than $3,500 are those with significant wealth in natural resources, such as Angola, Botswana, and Gabon. But even they fall well short of economic prosperity. Whether people can obtain electricity (access), and if so, how much they are able to consume (consumption) are the two most important metrics that can indicate the degree to which the power sector is supporting national development. Read more. Source | McKinsey & Company
Brighter Africa: The growth potential of the sub-Saharan electricity sector
Brighter Africa: The growth potential of the sub-Saharan electricity sector builds on the McKinsey Global Institute’s 2010 report Lions on the move: The progress and potential of African economies, which focused new attention on Africa’s accelerating economic growth. This report, its scenarios, and its supporting model are not intended to forecast the future but to lay out the opportunities and the challenges. We also offer examples from our own experiences in power-sector development across Africa and across the globe. We believe that subSaharan countries will witness a true economic breakthrough if they are able to successfully promote massive development of the power sector. If this report helps speed this breakthrough, then we will have achieved our goals.
East Africa to tackle power challenges
Kenya, Zambia, Uganda and Rwanda ministries are set to address power sector and shape regional infrastructure planning at the summit in Nairobi.
Ministers and senior representatives from the four East African countries have recently pledged their support in solving the region’s crippling power deficit.
Some of the topics set to be addressed include the critical role transmission must play in East Africa’s industrialisation, the role of power utilities, how best to overcome financing obstacles and how the cost of regional borrowing can be lessened by unlocking the transmission deadlock. Read more. Source |CNBCAFRICA.com
More East Africans turn to solar power
East Africans are increasingly using solar energy for lighting as companies scramble for a piece of the promising market.
In Rwanda, Gigawatt Global Company is establishing a$23.7 million solar field, East Africa’s first. The field, made up of 28,360 photovoltaic panels on a 20-hectare (50-acre) plot of land, supplies six per cent of the country’s power consumption. According to the power purchase agreement, it will be harnessing sunlight for 25 years. Read more. Source | The East African
East Africa Region to see over $2b in fuel savings
Kenya and Tanzania are set to save around $2 billion in lower fuel costs on oil imports over the next year, but economists remain uncertain about whether the energy price drop is good or bad news for the East African economies as a whole. Read more. Source|The East African
AfDB approves $145m loan for Kenya-Tanzania power line
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $145 million loan to fund the building of an electricity line between Kenya and Tanzania to improve regional power connections, it said. East Africa has some of the fastest growing economies on the continent but electricity shortages deter investment, pushing up business costs and sustaining poverty and inequality. Read more. Source|The East African
Kenya ranked eighth largest global geothermal producer
The injection of additional 280 megawatts produced in Olkaria to Kenya's national grid in December has lifted Kenya’s global ranking as the eighth largest producer of geothermal energy in the globe, a new study shows. Read more. Source|Business Daily