page_title: Economy of Africa
section_title: Energy
hierarchical_section_title: Economy of Africa / Economic sectors and industries / Energy
caption_attribution_description: &#160;South Africa, Aerial views around Cape Town. For exact location see geocode.
context_page_description: The economy of Africa consists of the trade, industry, agriculture, and human resources of the continent. As of 2019, approximately 1.3 billion people were living in 54 countries in Africa. Africa is a resource-rich continent. Recent growth has been due to growth in sales in commodities, services, and manufacturing. West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa in particular, are expected to reach a combined GDP of $29 trillion by 2050.
  In March 2013, Africa was identified as the world's poorest inhabited continent: Africa's entire combined GDP is barely a third of the United States' GDP; however, the World Bank expects that most African countries will reach "middle income" status by 2025 if current growth rates continue. There are a number of reasons for Africa's poor economy: historically, Africa had a number of rich empires trading with many parts of the world; however, European colonization and the subsequent challenges created by decolonization and exacerbated by the Cold War, created an environment of economic and social instability.
context_section_description: Africa has significant resources for generating energy in several forms (hydroelectric, reserves of petroleum and gas, coal production, uranium production, renewable energy such as solar, wind and geothermal). The lack of development and infrastructure means that little of this potential is actually in use today. The largest consumers of electric power in Africa are South Africa, Libya, Namibia, Egypt, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe, which each consume between 1000 and 5000 KWh/m² per person, in contrast with African states such as Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Tanzania, where electricity consumption per person is negligible.
  Petroleum and petroleum products are the main export of 14 African countries. Petroleum and petroleum products accounted for a 46.6% share of Africa's total exports in 2010; the second largest export of Africa as a whole is natural gas, in its gaseous state and as liquified natural gas, accounting for a 6.3% share of Africa's exports.
caption: The Athlone Power Station in Cape Town, South Africa
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