Access to energy

Access to clean cooking fuels

Access to electricity and access to clean cooking fuels are the two priorities of the sustainable development goals set by the UN.

Many Africans still do not have access to electricity. While most of the population of North Africa and South Africa (despite the enormous difficulties currently facing the RSA) has access to electricity, the same cannot be said of Sub-Saharan Africa, where almost 600 million people are still deprived of this energy. The situation varies greatly from one country to another. Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Botswana and several other countries will have completed most of their electrification in the near future. For geographical, political and economic reasons, the situation is quite different in many other countries.

Another important objective is access to clean cooking fuels. Here again, situations vary. In many countries, wood is still the most widely used fuel, as it is often the most easily accessible for people who are still poor. But the use of wood has a number of drawbacks: it accelerates desertification, women and children waste a lot of time collecting it, which deprives them of access to education, and it causes health problems because burning wood emits fine particles that cause respiratory illnesses in women and children near the fire during cooking; the number of deaths linked to these illnesses is higher than the number of deaths due to malaria. What's more, efficiency levels are dramatically low: almost 90% of wood energy is lost when cooking in basic stoves.

Solutions do exist. In countries with a long Anglo-Saxon tradition, "paraffin" (paraffin) is used, but it is a source of numerous fires when the tank spills, which is a frequent occurrence.

Many organisations support the development and supply of improved stoves. There is a wide range of these stoves, but their spread is slow. The solution lies in developing the use of butane.

Worldwide production - and consumption - of LPG (propane and butane) is 350 million tonnes. LPGs are mainly used for domestic purposes. In some countries, they are used for transport as a substitute for petrol. The potential market for LPG is considerable, but production is limited by physical constraints. LPGs are recovered either during oil or gas production, or in refineries, and their availability does not exceed a few per cent of hydrocarbon production or processing.

While in North Africa (Egypt, Algeria, Morocco) LPG consumption is widespread and still growing, it is more limited in sub-Saharan Africa. But in West Africa it is growing very fast. The LPG Expo conference, held in Dakar from 18 to 19 July, highlighted this development and demonstrated the diversity of a market in which numerous manufacturers and equipment vendors are competing. The market for cylinders (the most widespread being 6 and 12 kilo cylinders in most countries) is considerable.

Clearly, LPG and especially butane (the propane market in Africa is more limited because this product is more complex to handle) will represent the best route to clean cooking fuels in the future.

Other ADEA news

The next SIEPA will take place on 6 and 7 May 2025

We will shortly be organising a think tank meeting on Energy Transition in Africa.

Jean-Pierre Favennec
Président
Association pour
le Développement
de l'Énergie en Afrique