“Generator on standby”, “Afraid to shop in the dark?,don’t worry anymore” or “You have paid enough for electricity move to solar” These and more bold words are eye catching phrases on large corporate billboards which one have to encounter on daily basis ,to and from work.
These eye catching phrases puts one into the dilemma.To think of dark nights,cold water or unironed clothes, especially bfor yours truly whobfalls in the wrong salary basket.
cludedElectricity or the lack of it has been a thorn in the flesh for many African countries .Dark nights are now the song of the day for many folks. It is to this effect that we as Africans solve this problem before it gives many unforeseeable problems for us and or our children.
The problems that can come with the lack of electricity include ,disturbed surgical processes,industrial processing disturbances ,water heating/cooling and the like which can result in death and Injuries.These problems can be aggravated most if the so called load shading is not forewarned by the relevant authorities.
Agriculture,mining ,education and even social lives of our lives depend on electricity.In this regard electricity is regarded as one of the best innovations and inventions of our time. It is our duty as the bearers of the torch to use it sustainably or be innovative to produce an alternative.
As an example,Zimbabwe and Zambia share one of the largest man made water bodies in Africa Kariba, yet they are failing to cater for their electricity needs.The rational behind being the low water levels of the dam,faulty pump stations and or turbines malfunctions.There is also issues of mismanagement on both parties side.
South Africa is also reeling from electricity shortages resulting in black outs,Namibia ,Botswana to name but a few.In this light ,one is obliged to opinionated that it must be declared a continental disaster by the regional and the continental bodies.
This opinion originates from a recent visit to the rural areas where the folks rely on the nearby grinding mill that runs on electricity which was nit working due to load shedding.The hungry families had to wait for a week to grind their maize to feed the families ,not mentioning the distance they had covered from home to the mill.
Furthermore, not mentioning the winding queues which are as a result of load shedding at community watering taps ,silence at business centres and the like.Its a disaster in the strongest of terms.
One renown artist, Akon from Senegal has to be given thumbs up for helping in lighting Africa through his rural solar project. The Akon project is one if the many projects done by Africans to mitigate the disaster of load shedding.
After mentioning solar,wind also comes in mind with the use of wind mill for electricity, irrigation and also powering different engines. The above ,not only is suitable to reduce global warming as clean energy but are also efficient. There are various means which can also be innovated to help in lighting our houses.It is only left to us as Africans to initiate.
One is of the idea that ,as a continent we must not rely on the West or East to help us to solve our problems but we must.The last time we tried ,it led to slave trade ,colonisation and imperialism.
We should rather utilise globalisation to our advantage in the quest to find solution to energy disaster.The solution to problems lies in our minds.Africa can make a difference!
Samuel Charandura is a human rights advocate ,business,legal and entrepreneurial oriented.He loves researching and writing on African perspective.Can be contacted on [email protected] advocate writing sword press.com