African Union to launch single electricity market

The African Union is set to launch a single electricity market in February, during the African Union assembly of the heads of state and government.

This was revealed on Wednesday, during the second ordinary session of the sub-committee on energy of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Transport, Transcontinental and Interregional Infrastructure and Energy, held virtually.

The first phase of the African single electricity market is projected to be achieved as early as 2023 and full operation is anticipated to be reached by 2040.

A continental transmission network will allow energy trades within Africa, as well as off the continent with Europe and Asia, through existing links in the long term.

In October, the African Union Development Agency and the African Development Bank released recommendations of a baseline study that looked into the development of the continental energy grid and market.

The recommendations of the baseline study include establishing a permanent unit to develop the masterplan to produce skills transfer within the African Union Development Agency and the five regional power pools, and aligning the plan with existing infrastructure projects.

The next steps are to develop the terms of reference for phase two and to discuss how the masterplan will be funded.

The continental masterplan will provide a holistic roadmap to connect countries to each other within a single regional power pool and to connect the power pools into a single electricity market, promoting energy access and regional integration.

Speaking at the session, Mohamed Shaker El Markabi, Egypt's minister of electricity and renewable energy, said Africa is the world's largest treasure trove of clean energy resources and has an important strategic position in global clean development.

"The huge amounts of energy resources in the continent present opportunities to easily develop the African energy system at the local, national and regional levels, using a combination of both small and large-scale energy technologies in order to achieve energy security," Markabi said.

He further stressed the need to create a conducive environment for all stakeholders to effectively participate in the energy development agenda.

Amani Abou-Zeid, the African Union commissioner for infrastructure and energy, said providing universal and modern energy access for all Africans is an enormous challenge that requires collaboration and partnership at various levels.

"Significant mobilization and coordination strides are required to effectively engage stakeholders in addressing the key barriers to energy sector development on the continent, including policy, regulatory, technical, financing and market barriers," Abou-Zeid said.