By BRIAN HATYOKA  –
AFRICAN countries should pay more attention to energy to sustain development and economic activities on the continent, Engineering Institution of Zambia (EIZ) past president Jorry Mwenechanya has said.
Professor Mwenechanya said Africa needed new policies, and better and robust planning to revamp the energy sector.
He said a new approach to energy should embrace technological advancement, while building structures that were financially viable.
Prof Mwenechanya was speaking in Livingstone yesterday during the 2016 Power Africa Conference hosted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Power and Energy Society (PES) in partnership with the EIZ, which attracted more than 200 foreign and local delegates.
“On the back of favourable global conditions, especially prices for primary commodities, Africa has made some impressive development gains, but to sustain these gains, and especially to build on them, Africa needs to pay more attention to energy matters than before,” he said.
Prof Mwenechanya, who gave a keynote address during the conference, said the continent also required competent engineers who were professional and proactive in their work to achieve sustainable change in the power sector management.
Southern Province Minister Nathaniel Mubukwanu said the current energy shortage in Zambia had taught the country to look and invest in other sources of energy.
Mr Mubukwanu said the country could not run short of power when there were other means through which it could be provided.
“As Government, we are promoting investment in renewable energy as a way of achieving the objective of sustainable development for all.
“Investment in renewable energy will not only promote the productive uses of energy, but also indirectly support other socio-economic and development objectives, most notably poverty reduction through employment generation and supporting action on climate change mitigation and adaptation,” he said.
Mr Mubukwanu also said construction of the 300 Megawatts Maamba coal-fired power plant was almost complete.
The 2016 Power Africa Conference general chairperson, Urenna Onyewuchi, called for concerted efforts to improve electrification in Africa as no one person could manage the task.
Dr Onyewuchi said Africa should invest in high-quality solar panels and technologies.
“A significant portion of this conference is dedicated to micro-grids and off-grid solutions: Solutions more affordable than the large investments required for high-powered generation and transmission equipment.
“With community-based solutions, power availability should come sooner than one would otherwise expect,” Dr Onyewuchi said.