Increase in electricity production feeds Angola’s economic growth

Dependable access to a power source is one of the basic ingredients of economic growth and one that has been lacking in Angola, even nine years after the end of the civil war. The Government and national power company Empresa Nacional de Electricidade (ENE) are aware of the problems and are working diligently to improve and expand the country’s power grid.

During the war, the conflict frequently interfered with the work of providing electricity around the country. With the arrival of peace, both ENE and the country are ready to make the investment and the effort needed to build out the network.

The Government has approved an ambitious reform plan for the sector, which foresees electrifying 100 per cent of Angola’s urban areas by 2012 and extending the power grid to 60 per cent of semi-urban areas and to 30 per cent of rural areas during the same time period.

As part of the reform, the Government plans to reorganise ENE itself. The state-owned utility’s monopoly will end and it will be broken down into different business units for generation, transportation and distribution, each one with its own budget, business plan and strategic goals.

The plan calls for an increase in the installed capacity of hydroelectric generation, which currently provides about 77 per cent of the country’s electricity to 2,000 megawatts, which will require investment of about £3 billion.

The energy sector will be opened to competition and private and foreign investors will be welcomed.

According to ENE, the infrastructure of the energy sector still does not have the capacity to meet the full demand and therefore the inclusion of other players into the process of expanding the grid’s reach is vital in order to better supply the population and the country’s economy.

Recently, the Government announced plans to build and upgrade several large dams by 2017 at the cost of some $20 billion (£12.4 billion), which will be funded by oil revenues. Projects include hydroelectric facilities at Lahuca, Caculo Cabassa, Gove, and Manbubas. The investment will also be channelled into transport and distribution systems.

In addition to reorganising the sector’s structure, investing more money and welcoming foreign players, the country also needs to build up its human resources. As such, the Ministry of Energy has gone into collaboration with Agostinho Neto University to train specialists in pertinent technical and legal areas.