The maiden edition of the International Electricity Forum, FINELEC 2011, begins holding in Yaounde this Monday.

Almost 554 million out of 891 million people in Africa have little or no access to electricity. This makes the continent the least lit area of the world with low rates of electrification of both rural and urban areas. Power outages have since become normal occurrence in many villages, towns and cities, hampering social life and economic development in a continent that paradoxically is richly endowed with both renewable and exhaustible energy resources.

The Central African sub-region, for example, has one of the largest potentials in Africa in electricity, hydrocarbons and renewable energy. Yet, it remains the only sub-region that has not yet developed electricity interconnections to satisfactorily supply a market of 100 million consumers.

These and other considerations will be at the centre of discussions when over 1,000 scientists, energy and development experts start meeting at the Yaounde Conference Hall from Monday March 29 to April 1  for the  international electricity forum, FINELEC 2011 on the theme, “Overcoming Challenges for Access to Electricity in Africa.” Sources at the Electricity Sector Regulatory Agency, ARSEL, say FINELEC, which is in its first edition, aims at taking stock of the sector in the past ten years, as well as bringing together institutional actors, companies, national and international experts to reflect on innovative solutions to problems in the electricity sector.

Prominent among the topics to be discussed include the establishment of a sub-regional market for electricity and the strengthening of cooperation between stakeholders. On the sidelines of the symposiums and workshops, participants will visit an electricity fair that is expected to exhibit new technologies, thereby improving understanding of their use to meet the needs of industrial and domestic consumers. According to ARSEL, more than 200 electricity companies will take part in the fair.