The Potential of Digital Technologies for Centralized Electricity Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa Notes de l’Ifri, October 2020
Affordable and reliable electricity access is a prerequisite for the economic development of sub-Saharan Africa.
The digital transformation taking place in Africa affects all segments of the electricity sector value chain. It should enable obsolete sub-Saharan networks to evolve towards smart grids while helping to improve the financial and operational viability of the region’s power sectors. These are prerequisites for the multiplication of renewable projects in the region.
However, these developments will not be straightforward.
How to support these changes taking into account the specificities of the sub-Saharan context? How can new technologies meet the short-term needs of the network while facilitating its evolution towards smart grids?