Purpose

The purpose of this briefing note is to share the latest publication of the Africa Energy Balance and Indicators published in 2022. The Africa Energy Balance and Indicators is AFREC’s annual energy publication which features interpretation of data and statistics of energy performance in the member states, region and the continent. The publication is produced alongside other energy statistic publications which are shared with member states and key stakeholders, to promote evidence-based energy policy making, programme planning and implementation at national, regional and continental level.

Background

The Africa Energy Balance and Indicators consists of data collected by member states and processed through the African Energy Information System. The African Energy Information System (AEIS) is a continental energy database which was developed in 2012 managed and hosted by the African Energy Commission (AFREC). The system allows collection, processing, validation and dissemination of energy statistics and indicators for all energy fuel from all 55 African member states.

In 2020 with support from the African Development Bank (AfDB), the AEIS was revamped to be fully aligned with international standards and best practices, in order guide the African energy sector transformation, investment and decision making. The revamp included:

• Improving existing questionnaires and developing new ones with a focus on energy efficiency for all sectors, energy prices and taxes, CO2 emission, SDG7 tracking, Power Plants installed capacity amongst others.
• Improving data collection submission mechanism by adopting online data collection system.
• Developing a data visualization tool for data dissemination and reporting system.
• Capacity building for Member States through regional and national workshops.

In 2021, the new AEIS came into operation, enabling data submission through online data collection system and operating the visualization tool.

 AEIS Implementation and Data Strengthening

To strengthen the functioning of the AEIS and support member states on data collection and validation, in 2021 AFREC reinforced its efforts by implementing capacity building programmes to enhance member states skills and knowledge on energy data processing. The following programmes were then implemented, and not limited to:

• Training of 400 National Focal points (NFPs) as nominated by their respective Ministries of Energy to acquaint themselves with the new data collection system, processing and dissemination tools, and energy statistics.
• Qualifying 40 selected NFPs as trainers of other NFP’s in the countries and regions.
• Provide advisory supports to all AU Member States who submitted energy data.
• Reviewed historical data of all AU Member States, ranging from 2000 to ensure consistence and accuracy;
• Established the National Determined Contributions (NDC) support centers (NDC SC) to provide support to Malawi, Uganda, and Morocco in a pilot projects for climate change and data modelling and improving reporting of countries National Determined Contributions (NDC).
• AFREC is currently supporting 11 AU Member States namely: Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Congo, Gabon, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Namibia, to establish and improve National Energy Information Systems (NEIS) and provide capacity building on data management.

The African Energy Balance and Indicators

The African Energy Balance and Indicators 2021 edition include a detailed energy balance for thirteen (13) African Union member states namely: Algeria, Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Eswatini, Ghana, Morocco, Mauritius, Niger, Central Africa Republic, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zambia. It provide insights into Africa’s energy supply and demand, showing an increase on the use, supply of biofuels and waste, which remains one of the main sources of Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) in most of the countries in southern, central west and east Africa. For oil and gas producing countries such as Algeria for instance, natural Gas and Crude Oil TPES is over 50%. Therefore, these data triggers AFREC’s and member states response to the growing demand of energy as one of the main development challenges facing the continent.

 Conclusion and Recommendations

To provide adequate support to member states, ensure ownership of the process for the collection and validation of quality updated African energy data, the AEIS makes provision to warrant that African energy data reflects the true situation of the African energy sector performance and any development is undertaken using real and evidence based data.

 It is also imperative that strong leadership and availability of credible energy data is key in keeping the AEIS relevant to the member states. Hence, all efforts from both AFREC and member states should be geared towards ensuring the African energy sector is equipped with credible and updated energy data, which can help develop the sector, promote regional, trade and resource sharing, whilst resolving Africa’s energy demand in response to addressing real energy situation challenges faced by the people on the continent.

The Africa Energy Balance and Indicator 2021 edition is available in English and French.

Contact Person:

Ms Ndahafa Nakwafila

E: NakwafilaN@africa-union.org

Department of Infrastructure and Energy, African Energy Commission