Leaders from 45 electricity utility companies across Africa Thursday convened in Lusaka in a bid to promote cooperation and regional integration in power sector as part of their efforts to realize the access to electricity for all people on the continent.

The two-day meeting under the banner of the Union of Producers, Distributors and Transporters of Electric Power in Africa (UPDEA) will, among other things, set up a fund for the development of rural electrification and review progress made in forming the African Standardization Electrotechnical Commission (AFSEC).

Officially opening the meeting, Zambian Vice President Lupando Mwape said Africa needed to urgently come up with practical approaches to eradicate poverty.

"One way of realizing this target is by providing services that would increase the productivity of our people in general and rural population in particular. It should be pointed out that one of the most effective catalysts of rural development is electricity," Mwape said.

"However, the biggest challenge is how to get it to rural areas, " he said, noting that rural electrification is expensive, technically difficult and fails to attract private investment thus poses a huge challenge for Africa.

The vice president commended UPDEA for its commitment to rural electrification in Africa. He said the setting up of an African fund for rural electrification would address some of the financing challenges currently being faced by some electricity utilities.

And the standardization of electrotechnical equipment would lead to reduction of electrification costs through improvement in the economies of scale resulting from standardized equipment and power system designs, he said.

Rhodnie Sisala, managing director of Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) which hosts the meeting, said energy service, electricity in particular, plays a critical role in facilitating economic development.

However, electrification rate in rural areas of Africa is estimated to stand at 3 percent to 15 percent in average.

This, Sisala said, posed a challenge to all stakeholders in the African electricity utility industry to make all people of Africa get access to electricity through pooling of energy resources.

Alongside the meeting was held an exhibition by 26 local and foreign manufacturers of electrical equipment.

Source: Xinhua