The quest to solve Nigeria’s perennial power problem has gotten a boost as two energy companies have entered into an agreement to bring a hybrid power solution to Nigeria and other African countries.
The companies are Distributed Power Africa (DPA), a subsidiary of Econet Wireless Global, and Électicité De France (EDF), a foremost electricity company. They both signed the pact recently in Johannesburg, South Africa.
According to a statement obtained from Econet Wireless Global’s website, the deal will enable both parties to supply commercial, industrial, and hybrid power solutions to African countries; beginning with Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and South Africa.
What this means: The hybrid power solution is expected to combine solar power with energy back-up systems such as batteries. Below are what are the things expected from the pact:
- Ultimately, the synergy will help tackle frequent power-cuts and lack of access to power grids, two major factors hampering business and economic growth in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries.
- The initiative will equally facilitate the ease of doing business in such countries by providing more affordable power option to manufacturers and business owners across the continent.
- With renewable energy as its forte, EDF will handle the technology requirement of the synergy while DPA is responsible for driving the sales and distribution of the products across Africa.
Econet’s Founder, Strive Mayisiwa, said the following;
“Enabling reliable and stable energy to businesses will help meet the continent’s global economic growth goals. In the Telecoms industry, for every 10 % increase in teledensity, we observed a 1% increase in GDP. In the Energy sector, we expect a tenfold increase in GDP by addressing the continental power challenge.”
Renewable energy is a veritable power option that is becoming increasingly popular in African businesses and households. It offers reliable and ready-to-use solutions by removing the obstacle of a frequent power outage that the majority of countries in Africa experience.
Similarly, it guarantees a clean, noise-free environment unlike generators, which are notorious for noise and polluting the air. According to an estimate by experts, renewable energy will constitute 50% of sub-Saharan Africa’s power generation growth by 2040.
