Today, half a billion people in Sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity and must rely on kerosene lamps and candles for lighting. To help, IFC and the World Bank have created the Lighting Africa initiative, which aims to bring modern off-grid alternatives, such as fluorescent light bulbs and light emitting diodes, to the African market.
When night falls in Kenya, Fatuma Soila of Kajiado village lights a small kerosene lamp inside her house. The lamp is really just a piece of rope dipped into kerosene. It creates a faint light that barely enables her to cook and her children to read. The lamp emits toxic fumes, making Soila cough and leaving dark marks on her ceiling.
Tonight is different, however—there is a new fluorescent light on the table. As Soila turns it on, the room brightens, and she remarks, "This lamp is better than the kerosene lantern that I'm used to, because it generates more light."
Access to Clean Lighting
As part of its market research, the Lighting Africa initiative has placed modern lamps and flashlights in a number of households and businesses in Ghana and Kenya.
The objective is to determine the most effective modern off-grid lighting products for the African market and to help set affordable prices.
Africa's Lighting: Key Facts
| Access to electricity | 23 percent on average |
| "Energy poor" in Africa | 500 million people by 2030 |
| Lighting Africa's reach | More than 250 million people |
| Annual expenditure on fuel-based lighting | $17 billion |
Innovative Solutions
Lighting Africa operates on a number of fronts. To help create a supply chain and effective distribution channels for modern lighting products, IFC and the World Bank are organizing the first global business conference for off-grid lighting in Africa in Ghana, from May 5 to 8.
The initiative is also sponsoring a competition that will reward companies with the most innovative lighting solutions and business models. Some $200,000 in grants for each of the winners will be announced at the conference.
Another part of the initiative is looking at the quality of lighting products exported to Africa and helping develop standards.
Global Partners
Supporters of the initiative include the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program; the Global Environment Facility; the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility; Good Energies Inc.; the governments of Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Norway; the European Commission; and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership.
With people in Africa spending $17 billion a year on off-grid lighting products, the business opportunity is clear. Lighting Africa aims to highlight that opportunity and ensure that the region's urgent lighting needs are met as soon as possible.
For more information about Lighting Africa, visit
www.lightingafrica.org or contact:
Katia Theriault
Lighting Africa initiative
Phone: +1 202 458 9704
E-mail:
ktheriault@ifc.org
or
Lucie Giraud
IFC Communications Officer
Phone: +1 202 458 4662
E-mail:
lgiraud@ifc.org
Published on May 5, 2008
