According to Roger Brown, CEO of Seplat electricity Plc, “affordable and reliable energy provides the right platform for businesses in Africa to create and retain jobs for its fast growing population as well as make the continent sustainable.”
Speaking at the ongoing Africa Oil Week (AOW) in Cape Town, South Africa, Brown stated that the continent’s ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 7 of the UN depends on its ability to access and secure energy.
He claims that because energy infrastructure has remained inadequate and has not received the necessary investments, up to 600 million Africans have little or no access to energy.
He told conference delegates, “Affordable and reliable energy allows businesses to create jobs in Africa, giving the rapidly expanding population a future in their country of birth, thereby avoiding mass migration.”
He went on, “900 million Africans cook with biomass, and this is causing all kinds of problems—it takes time away from women and children who must gather firewood for cooking, it pollutes the air, which in turn leads to poor health, and it’s estimated that nearly 500,000 Africans lose their lives to it annually. This must be changed because it is intolerable.
The head of Seplat went on to say that: “Part of the issue we have to solve, particularly in Nigeria, is that small-scale generators that operate on diesel or petrol, which are imported, are often the source of energy if people do have access to it, as is the case in Nigeria. Therefore, it is evident that we must expand access to reasonably priced, dependable, and sustainable energy; nevertheless, just 3% of global energy system investments now go to Africa.
He emphasized that Africa has the right to develop and that it must do so by using its natural riches, emphasizing that debt or outsourcing will not be sufficient to finance the shift.
According to him, nations like Nigeria should stop depending on diesel or PMS generators because doing so will enhance health and reduce electricity costs, which are seriously impeding growth across the board.
