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# **I. INTRODUCTION**

1. Electricity infrastructure is one of the most important development challenges in Africa. Access to electricity is very limited across the continent. Globally, it is estimated that roughly 1.3 billion people live without access to electricity (IEA 2011). In Sub-Saharan Africa, about 585 million people, or approximately 70 percent of the total population in the region, are still living without access to power. In rural areas in particular, the electrification rate is still as low as 14 percent. In addition, many of those with nominal access to electricity face frequent, if not chronic, power outages.

2. Significant resources are required to meet the existing infrastructure deficiencies. While the region’s annual spending needs are estimated at US$40.8 billion in the power sector, only US$11.6 billion is currently available (World Bank 2010). In Africa, new investment in the energy sector is generally expensive. An additional 1 MW of installed capacity would cost between US$0.3 and US$0.5 million per annum (Figure 1). Improving energy efficiency is among the important measures required to meet these gaps.

3. In theory, energy efficiency is an inexpensive win-win proposition, particularly when supply capacity is severely constrained, as it is in many African countries.<sup>1</sup> While end users can reduce their energy spending, power utilities can avoid costly new investment in developing their capacity. At the same time, manufacturers and vendors of energy-efficient technology can profit from the sale of energy goods or services. Moreover, energy efficiency can contribute to mitigating the effects of global warming. Africa is not a major CO<sup>2</sup> emitter at present; the region only accounts for some 3 percent of total CO<sup>2</sup> emissions, while about 15 percent of the world’s total population resides there. However, among other developing regions, Africa is projected to be among the most vulnerable to climate change and possible extreme events.

4. One of the most important development efforts currently under way in Africa is the Lighting Africa Initiative, which aims to provide power access to 250 million people by 2030. The initiative seeks to promote private sector participation in the regional home appliance market to encourage the widespread distribution of energy-efficient goods and equipment, such as compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulbs, as well as the development of renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind and micro hydro power. Thanks to this initiative, roughly 3.8 million people have already received new access to clean, safe lighting as of 2012.<sup>2</sup> 5. A number of residential CFL bulb distribution programs have been implemented all over the world, including in the Philippines, Rwanda, Thailand, Uganda and Vietnam (e.g., World Bank 2006; ESMAP 2009). Recently, Ethiopia carried out a series of CFL bulb distribution programs. From an engineering point of view, these programs clearly contribute

> 1 In practice, there are various institutional challenges to promoting the adoption of energy efficiency measures, e.g., long payoff periods and market failure to finance upfront large investment (see Singh et al. 2010, for example).

> 2 <u>http://www.lightingafrica.org/</u>