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81. Electrification in Nigeria: Challenges and Way Forward

Author:
Joseph Ishaku
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA)
Abstract:
Although electricity has been generated in commercial quantities in Nigeria for over a century, the rate of electricity infrastructure development in the county is low and power supply remains inadequate. Prior to reforms, the central challenges of the Nigerian power sector was the vertically integrated monopoly of government in power generation, transmission and distribution. While the reforms was successful in privatizing the generation and distribution segments of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), the overbearing problems in the sector persists –with privatization only changing the dimensions of the challenges. Financing remain a major problem across all the segments of the NESI partly due to non-cost reflective tariff. Yet each segment of the NESI also faces its unique challenges. The generation segment is riffed with the problems of energy security and inefficiencies in other segments. The challenges in the transmission segment lies in the lack of modern transmission lines and equipment, gross mismanagement, poor maintenance of available infrastructure and inefficient grid design. Distribution companies face the problem of huge Aggregate Technical, Commercial, and Collection (ATC&C) losses. In terms of electricity access, 46.09 percent of the Nigerian population remains unconnected to the national grid, representing 83.98 million people. Further, electricity demand is estimated at 24,380 MW as at 2015 compared to NESI’s available generation capacity of 7,139.6 MW. In terms of energy use, Nigeria has the lowest in the world – 80 percent below its energy use based on income levels. In a bid to tackle aforementioned challenges, the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) set ambitious targets for the country’s energy mix. This should allow Nigeria exploit its potential for coal, solar, wind, biomass, as well as small and large hydroelectric power electric generation, while reducing the prevalence of self-generation, which constitute two-thirds of present energy mix. By 2020, the FGN targets to achieve up to 75 percent access to electricity by connecting 1.5 million households annually. While Nigeria’s energy mix targets are desirable, the prospect of success remain bleak on account of financial constraints, pricing policy and lack of policy coordination. Improving electricity supply in Nigeria and addressing barriers to achieving the energy mix targets will entail: addressing payment risk, financing power sector investment, as well as improving the pricing and tariff structure, gas pricing and allocation, and market regulation.
Topic:
Development, Markets, Infrastructure, Regulation, and Electricity
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

82. Sustainable Solutions to Water Supply in Kenya

Author:
Ian Goodrich and Simeon Ogamba
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The Kenya Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Resilience and Governance Programme is built upon a theory of change which emphasizes empowerment, rights and the ability of citizens – particularly women – to develop and implement their own strategies for better access to services to improve health and quality of life. The programme’s approach holds that the best-placed actors to deliver improved water and sanitation are the country’s government, civil society and private sector, who are held accountable by the citizens they serve in promoting the quality and sustainability of services. The programme addresses water and sanitation challenges in urban and rural settlements of Kenya, strengthening the capacity of county governments, water-user associations and water utility companies to provide safe, sustainable services; developing and piloting innovative solutions; and working with other civil society partners to call for policy changes that address the needs of the most vulnerable people. This document particularly focuses on the question of whether water ATMs are a sustainable solution to water supply.
Topic:
Water, Infrastructure, Innovation, and Sustainability
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

83. Mapping and Monitoring WASH Facilities: Integrating Mobile Data Collection and GIS Tools for Better Monitoring in Tanzania

Author:
Hillman Agung
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Oxfam has been piloting the combined use of mobile data collection and geographic information systems (GIS) tools to better monitor water, sanitation and hygiene facilities as part of its work to support Burundian refugees in Tanzania. This case study describes how, as well as building capacity among staff, the pilot enabled the generation of timely and accurate data to support programme activities.
Topic:
Infrastructure, Data, Maping, and Mobile Network
Political Geography:
Africa and Tanzania

84. Improving Coordination through Mapping: Using GIS to Map Community Boreholes in South Sudan

Author:
Paul Evans
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
In South Sudan, Oxfam has introduced the use of geographic information systems (GIS) to map water and sanitation facilities across conflict-hit Wau. This case study explains how this has enabled Oxfam and partners to better monitor and coordinate activities – and has the potential to maximize opportunities to develop sustainable water sources.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Water, Infrastructure, Sanitation, Geography, Maping, and Hygiene
Political Geography:
Africa and South Sudan

85. Turning Water into Wellbeing: How an Irrigation Scheme Changed Lives in a Zimbabwean Dryland

Author:
Solomon Mombeshora and Martin Walsh
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Climate change is putting increasing stress on the livelihoods of people living in the world’s drylands. Smallholder irrigation has long been seen as a means of improving food security in areas with unpredictable rainfall, and is now being promoted as part of climate change adaptation strategies. The Ruti Irrigation Scheme in Zimbabwe was begun by Oxfam in 2009 with these objectives in mind. This report examines the findings of two evaluations of the project and shows that the irrigation scheme has had more significant social and economic impacts than those measured by a quantitative study alone. However, the positive impacts for wellbeing have not been as extensive as originally hoped – having been affected by extreme weather events and the decision to reserve scarce water for use by sugar estates further downstream. This suggests that while smallholder irrigation schemes can provide important local benefits, these are threatened not only by the usual difficulties associated with their implementation, but also by the greater challenges posed by climate change and the resource conflicts that are being exacerbated as a result. These are problems which require significant changes in policy and practice at catchment-wide, national, and international levels.
Topic:
Agriculture, Climate Change, Water, Famine, Infrastructure, and Food Security
Political Geography:
Africa and Zimbabwe

86. Infrastructure Financing In Nigeria

Author:
Chukwuka Onyekwena, Precious Chukwuemelie Akanonu, and Anointing Ogie Momoh
Publication Date:
12-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA)
Abstract:
Similar to most sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, Nigeria has a huge infrastructure deficit which considerably limits efforts towards achieving inclusive growth, sustainable development, and poverty reduction. With infrastructure stock estimated at 20-25 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Nigerias infrastructure stock is still significantly lower than the recommended international benchmark of 70 per cent of GDP. The 2014 National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIMP) estimates that a total of US$ 3 trillion of investments, or US$100 billion annually, is required over the next 30 years to bridge Nigerias infrastructure gap. In particular, the Plan estimates that Nigeria will have to spend an annual average of US$ 33 billion infrastructure investments for the period 2014 -2018. This means that Nigeria will have to more than double its spending on infrastructure from the current 2-3 per cent of GDP to around 7 per cent to make appreciable progress in infrastructure development over the next three decades.
Topic:
Economics, Infrastructure, GDP, Finance, Economic Growth, Economic Development, and Financial Institutions
Political Geography:
Africa, Nigeria, and Sub-Saharan Africa

87. What keeps cities in Asia and Africa from effective public service delivery?

Author:
Madeline Roth and Ammar A. Malik
Publication Date:
08-2016
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Cities are widely regarded as engines of economic growth. Their ability to attract and retain talent and financial capital drives productivity and the well-being of societies. But cities across sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, two of the world’s most populous and rapidly urbanizing regions, are unable to provide basic services to most of their residents. Countries with greater levels of urbanization have traditionally enjoyed greater prosperity, but the rise of poor megacities in recent years has cast doubts on this relationship. By 2040, over half the world’s poor earning less than $1 per day are expected to live in cities. To realize their full economic potential, cities must offer quality public amenities, modern urban infrastructure, and widely accessible basic public services such as water and sanitation. What factors prevent cities from better serving residents? And what can city governments do improve the status quo?
Topic:
Infrastructure, Urbanization, Economic Growth, and Public Service
Political Geography:
Africa and Asia

88. China and the Middle East: Venturing into the Maelstrom

Author:
James M Dorsey
Publication Date:
03-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
China’s increasingly significant economic and security interests in the Middle East have several impacts. It affects not only its energy security but also its regional posture, relations with regional powers as well as the United States, and efforts to pacify nationalist and Islamist Uighurs in its north-western province of Xinjiang. Those interests are considerably enhanced by China’s One Belt, One Road initiative that seeks to patch together a Eurasian land mass through inter-linked infrastructure, investment and expanded trade relations. Protecting its mushrooming interests is forcing China to realign its policies and relationships in the region. As it takes stock of the Middle East and North Africa’s volatility and tumultuous, often violent political transitions, China feels the pressure to acknowledge that it no longer can remain aloof to the Middle East and North Africa’s multiple conflicts. China’s long-standing insistence on non-interference in the domestic affairs of others, refusal to envision a foreign military presence and its perseverance that its primary focus is the development of mutually beneficial economic and commercial relations, increasingly falls short of what it needs to do to safeguard its vital interests. Increasingly, China will have to become a regional player in competitive cooperation with the United States, the dominant external actor in the region for the foreseeable future. The pressure to revisit long-standing foreign and defence policy principles is also driven by the fact that China’s key interests in the Middle East and North Africa have expanded significantly beyond the narrow focus of energy despite its dependence on the region for half 1 China has signalled its gradual recognition of these new realities with the publication in January 2016 of an Arab Policy Paper, the country’s first articulation of a policy towards the Middle East and North Africa. But, rather than spelling out specific policies, the paper reiterated the generalities of China’s core focus in its relations with the Arab world: economics, energy, counter-terrorism, security, technical cooperation and its One Belt, One Road initiative. Ultimately however, China will have to develop a strategic vision that outlines foreign and defence policies it needs to put in place to protect its expanding strategic, geopolitical, economic, and commercial interests in the Middle East and North Africa; its role and place in the region as a rising superpower in the region; and its relationship and cooperation with the United States in managing, if not resolving conflict.
Topic:
Security, Diplomacy, Economics, Imperialism, and Infrastructure
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, China, Middle East, Asia, and North Africa

89. Infrastructure Development and Financing in Sub-Saharan Africa: Toward a framework for capacity enhancement

Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
Abstract:
Of the world’s developing regions, Sub-Saharan Africa has the worst infrastructure deficit, with studies pointing to lost growth opportunities. This study presents in one document information previously dispersed on the region’s infrastructure stock and modes of financing. It assesses infrastructure’s role in the region’s economic growth. It identifies specific capacity constraints that have hindered the private sector’s participation in infrastructure financing. And it suggests a framework for advancing institutional and human resource capacities to boost infrastructure financing. The authors first reviewed documents addressing the region’s infrastructure. They then conducted case studies of private sector involvement in infrastructure financing in Kenya, Mauritius, and South Africa. And, using the generalized method of moments (GMM), estimated an infrastructure-augmented growth model.
Topic:
Development, Political Economy, Infrastructure, Finance, Economic Policy, and Capacity
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, South Africa, and Mauritius

90. Africa’s Growth Dividend? Lived Poverty Drops Across Much of the Continent

Author:
Robert Mattes, Boniface Dulani, and E. Gyimah-Boadi
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
Though Africa has recorded high levels of economic growth over the past decade, previous Afrobarometer surveys of citizens found little evidence that this growth had reduced levels of poverty in any consistent way (Dulani, Mattes, & Logan, 2013). However, new data from Afrobarometer Round 6, collected across 35 African countries, suggest a very different picture. While “lived poverty” remains pervasive across much of the continent, especially in Central and West Africa, we now see evidence that the decade of economic growth seems to have finally delivered broad-based reductions in poverty. “Lived poverty” (an index that measures the frequency with which people experience shortages of basic necessities) retreated across a broad range of countries. In the roughly three-year period between Round 5 (2011/2013) and Round 6 (2014/2015) surveys, our data suggest that “lived poverty” fell in 22 of 33 countries surveyed in both rounds. However, these changes show no systematic relation to recent rates of economic growth. While growing economies are undoubtedly important, what appears to be more important in improving the lives of ordinary people is the extent to which national governments and their donor partners put in place the type of development infrastructure that enables people to build better lives.
Topic:
Poverty, Infrastructure, Inequality, and Economic Growth
Political Geography:
Africa