Energy access - developing countries

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As one of the world’s leading electricity suppliers and a socially-responsible company, we are committed to promoting energy access in the rural areas of developing countries.

Seminar in Dakar - November 2009

The number of people without access to electricity in 2011 has been estimated at 1.4 billion, representing 20% of the world's population.

85% of these people are concentrated in rural areas of poor countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Did you know?

The annual investment needed to supply electricity to the world's entire population by 2030 is $36 billion, representing a mere 5% of the total amount invested each year by the electricity sector worldwide.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 580 million people, or 69% of the population, do not have access to electricity.
The installed capacity of the electricity-generating power plants in Sub-Saharan Africa is 74 GW for a population of 860 million, equal to that of Spain with its population of 45 million.

Source: International Energy Agency

Since the beginning of the 1990s, we have been actively promoting universal electricity access in developing countries:

as an electricity producer, by developing major infrastructure (such as the Nam Theun 2 dam in Laos);
as an electricity distributor, through peri-urban electrification programmes (in Brazil, Argentina, South Africa and Morocco).

In addition to its industrial importance, the action taken by EDF to promote access to electricity in rural areas is also part of its social and environmental responsibility objectives. In addition to its financial contribution, one of EDF's aims is to promote the emergence and dissemination of a sustainable economic model: this has resulted in the development of decentralised services companies.

In 2012, EDF is supporting the Mission Africa Express which aims to promote existing positive initiatives, through field studies of 18 power projects.

This study will make it possible to identify best practices that can be copied and the key factors in making a project successful in terms of technology, governance, business-models, etc.

This work will be formalised in the first quarter of 2013 by a White Paper. Rail transport will be the preferred means of transport for the Mission that will cross 23 African countries over a distance of 20,000 km between April and December 2012.

Consult Afrika Express Mission website

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Mission Africa Express

In 2012, EDF is supporting the Mission Africa Express which aims to promote existing positive initiatives, through field studies of 18 power projects.
Learn more about this partnership

A model : The RESCO

In the late 1990s, EDF and ADEME created a model to guarantee both the viability of rural electrification projects over the long term and their large-scale reproducibility: the Rural Electricity Service Company.
Find out more about the RESCO

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EDF - Energy access - developing countries

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