Mekelle፡Telaviv, Nairobi, Pretoria, London, (Tigray Herald).
Power Beyond Borders: Addressing the Challenges of Regional Electricity Trade in Africa
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has come to symbolize Africa’s untapped energy promise and the urgent need for cross-border electricity trade to power the continent’s future.
Despite holding some of the world’s richest renewable resources hydropower, solar, geothermal, and natural gas more than 600 million Africans still live without reliable electricity. Experts say the problem is not scarcity, but disconnection. Fragmented policies, weak infrastructure, and political mistrust have left half the continent in the dark.
Electricity trade offers a way out. By pooling resources and building interconnectors, countries can share loads, reduce costs, and improve reliability. Ethiopia’s hydro exports to Kenya through the new interconnector demonstrate the benefits of regional integration. But the success also underlines the need for strong national systems; states without reliable domestic infrastructure cannot be dependable regional partners.
Progress remains slow. Many interconnector projects are stalled or underbuilt, while divergent tariffs and regulatory frameworks complicate trade. Financing is another hurdle: power pools require billions in long-term investment, but most countries struggle to attract low-risk capital. Ethiopia’s attempt to mobilize diaspora funding for GERD shows both the promise and limits of innovative financing.
Underlying all this is a trust deficit. Electricity trade demands confidence in payments, deliveries, and contracts all of which are vulnerable to political instability and shifting alliances.
Analysts argue that African governments must take the lead, harmonising tariffs, aligning standards, and empowering regional bodies like the Eastern Africa Power Pool and Southern Africa Power Pool to act as real market players. They also call for a new “power diplomacy” with states negotiating electricity deals with the same seriousness as trade and security agreements.
The stakes are enormous. Electricity is the foundation of modern life, from industry and digital economies to education and healthcare. Without it, Africa’s development stalls; with it, Agenda 2063 the African Union’s blueprint for prosperity and integration becomes attainable.
As the continent looks to the future, the challenge is clear: to turn energy abundance into shared prosperity, and to ensure Africa’s light is not just potential, but power in every home.
Source: Institute of Foreign Affairs
