Washington, D.C. — The World Bank hopes to bring affordable and environmentally-friendly lighting products to up to 250 million Africans by the year 2030.
The “Lighting Africa” program was officially launched as part of the World Bank's Development Marketplace grant program this week.
More than 350 international and local companies have declared interest as possible partners in connecting more Africans to the power grid. The World Bank will support lighting companies’ efforts to replace kerosene lighting, a polluting and poor-quality light source, with the most cutting-edge compact fluorescent light (CFL) and light-emitting diodes technologies.
Although “Lighting Africa” promises to make energy costs lower, the lighting alternatives proposed also present a host of new concerns.
Not least among these are environmental issues. CFL light bulbs, when broken or improperly disposed of, emit mercury into the atmosphere and pollute the water supply.
World Bank leading energy specialist Anil Cabraal told allAfrica in an interview that companies are working to decrease mercury levels and improve the lifetime of CFLs.
Cabraal also said that as LED technology, commonly found in stop lights and cell phones, continues to improve, this technology “will likely become the main focus of the 'Lighting Africa' initiative.”
“We do not do the development [of products],” Cabraal said. “That is up to the industry. But what we can do is tell the industry what we are looking for and help condition the market.”
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In the meantime, the World Bank aims to educate local lighting companies and communities on how to dispose of CFLs safely.
Cabraal explains that this initiative is not concerned with “incremental changes.” Rather, the bank wants to use new technologies to help entrepreneurs “leap forward.” Although there have been smaller solar lantern projects in countries such as China, the lighting initiative is “new territory” for the bank.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s “limited infrastructure capacity” presents challenges, says Cabraal. But early consultations with the private sector and government met with a “strong and positive response.”
The World Bank says connecting new areas of Africa to power will serve consumers, support local commerce, create new jobs, enhance air quality, and improve health, safety, and quality of life.
Fuel for outdated lighting technology typically comprises up to 15 percent of a person’s annual income in Africa, the bank adds. Estimates show that only two percent of rural Sub-Saharan Africans have access to “modern energy” and electricity. That means at least 500 million people do not.
