Africa to use solar resources to improve energy infrastructure?
3 March 2011
Africa is well placed to improve its energy infrastructure due to the vast solar resources it has at its disposal.
Abubakar Sambo, the World Energy Council's vice-president for Africa, said the level of sunshine, wind and water is better than anywhere else in the world, the Associated Press reports.
He wants to see the introduction of more national projects that will exploit these resources.
As recently as 2008, the continent suffered from a power crisis, but a movement towards renewable technologies could prevent this from happening again.
The South African government has started subsidising homes that install solar-powered water heaters.
Laurraine Lotter, executive director of South Africa's Chemical and Allied Industries' Association, called on those in power to encourage the development of factories that would allow this system to be expanded.
Public-private partnerships are also to be used to try and close the infrastructural gap in Africa, Sanjay Pradhan, vice-president of the World Bank Institute, recently said.