Energy projects power up African growth

A number of clean energy projects, including Dongfang Electric Corp's Gibe III Dam project and China Electric Power Equipment and Technology's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, will help Africa realize industrialization and urbanization in an efficient way, officials said at a recent forum.

Due to the continent's inadequate infrastructure, Africa is in desperate need of electricity. Official statistics show that per capita energy consumption in Africa is only one-third of the global average and its 190-million-kilowatt installed capacity accounts for just 3 percent of the global total. More than half of the African population, over 600 million people, still live without electricity.

Africa has abundant clean energy resources and great potential in this field, while clean energy resources have a major role to play in resolving Africa's energy shortage, Liu Zhenya, chairman of the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization, said at the 2017 World Hydropower Congress in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.