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| Njogu Bah |
His
claim came amid increased electricity tariff and a power-supply social service
experts said is unreliable, inefficient and unaffordable.
He said the country’s energy use has increased
dramatically, but was quick to admit that the country has also suffers from
significant energy deficits, while speaking during a December 6, 2012
stakeholder’s validation forum on the “Development of Electricity Action Plan
and Renewable Energy Law in The Gambia”, held at the Kairaba Beach hotel.
“With
economy projected to grow at 5-6 percent (%) per annum, and rapid urbanization
and improving standards of living for Gambian households, the demand for
electricity is likely to grow significantly,” he said.
Dr. Bah, who is also the Head of Civil
Services, noted that clean, efficient, affordable and reliable energy services
are indispensable for the socio-economic development of The Gambia – the
tiniest country in mainland Africa.
The
Gambia Government has already seen the need to expand access to reliable and
modern energy services to reduce poverty and improve productivity, enhance
competitions and promote economic growth.
The
draft electricity strategy and action plan and the draft renewal energy for The
Gambia - both funded by the European Union seeks to address the numerous energy
problems the country is currently faced with.
The
electricity strategy and action plan renewable energy law has been fully
advanced and validated; hence, Dr. Bah said it would seek to establish a feed-in-tariff
and a standardized private sector investment in renewable energy power
generation.
If enacted (made into law), Dr. Bah said it
will set in motion an enabling environment and framework for promoting
renewable energy based mini-grids for productive users in the rural areas of
the Gambia - which will be implemented
under the Global Environment Facility, GEF and UNIDO Project.
Governments
are recognized as the most critical institutions in driving the renewable
energy transition. But Dr. Bah lamented that there are unclear views on the
most effective government policies and specific regulation instruments, limited
chances prevail to evaluate realistically.
Whilst
government is perceived as the key player and can facilitate business and
investment climate through which producers and consumers are able to overcome
the barriers that are currently faced, there is the need to achieve this by
clear, consistent and long term policy framework supported by a strategy and
also by a well-evaluated instrument.
He
then stressed that it is incumbent on the government, agencies, development
partners and the private sector to work together to realize this initiative.
Mrs.
Agnes Guillaud EU- Charge d’ Affaires in The Gambia, noted that the design of
the law and the strategy was proposed by the consultancy firm MERCADOS, and
funded by the European Union energy initiative partnership dialogue facility,
the EUEI-PDF.
The
Act will provide the legal framework for the Gambia for an efficient promotion
of the use of renewable energy resources, she said, the current high dependency
on fuel for The Gambia leads to several extremely negative consequences.
“The
cost of electricity is indexed to highly fluctuating price of fuel, limiting
the financial capacities of stakeholders in the sector,” she added. “The
extremely high price of electricity, due to the high price of fuel, means that
most Gambians’ are unable to afford electricity.”
According
to her, The Gambia has no choice but to be innovative in the renewable energy
sector to make sure that the country’s population and businesses have access to
an affordable, efficient and sustainable energy, necessary for the long-term
development of the country – ranked among least developed countries in the
world.
“The
Government of The Gambia has for the last two decades been grappling with the
twin problems of addressing the energy inadequacies and the provision of
sustainable and affordable supply of electricity to users,” says Mr. Mod K.
Ceesay, deputy permanent secretary Ministry of Finance and Economic Affair.
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