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DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Collaborating on Sustainable Solutions

IPS Correspondent

NAIROBI, Dec 5 2009 (IPS) - Mauritian experts are helping set up cogeneration systems to feed the hunger for electricity in Tanzania, Zambia and elsewhere. An example of how appropriate technology can be applied to problems common to countries in the global South.


Cogeneration is the simultaneous production of electricity and heat from the same energy source. Mauritius’s sugar industry is a major user of cogeneration technology, where steam produced by burning sugarcane waste, or bagasse, is used to process sugar and to generate electricity the factory and for sale to the national grid.

“Cogeneration can provide additional and valuable revenue stream to agro-based and wood-based industries while assisting in meeting the growing power supply gap faced by many African countries,” said Stephen Karekezi, director of the African Energy Policy Research Network (AFREPREN).


East Africa, for example, relies on hydropower to meet over 80 percent of demand, according to the organisation. But frequent droughts resulting into power cuts have forced countries to import electricity at high cost.

“These countries could increase energy supply by using cogeneration and other renewable projects,” Karekezi told IPS on the sidelines of the High-Level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation.


Mauritius, a major sugar producer, was cited as one of the success stories. In 2008, nearly 20 percent of the country’s electricity was generated from burning bagasse.

Government support and involvement in the development of a cogeneration programme in the island country have resulted in a steady growth in the share of power generated in this way.

“Our dependence on imported oil has been reduced. Players in the sugar sector – including smallscale sugar farmers – are gaining from government policies on equitable revenue sharing,” said Vivian Gaiqui, a mechanical engineer in Mauritius’s sugar industry.

Mauritius’s case provides a model for other developing countries, as well as an opportunity for South-South cooperation. Already Mauritius is providing technical skills to Mozambique, Tanzania, Ivory Coast, and Zambia, where it is training people in cogeneration in the sugar and pulp and paper industries.

Tanzania is benefiting from technology transfers from Mauritius, India and Brazil. Energy production by Mufindi Paper Mills increase by 40 percent, said Masoya Magoti, a consulting engineer with the company.

Brazil’s cooperation on renewable energy projects with other developing countries is driven by the need to sustain the environment. About 46 percent of Brazil’s energy comes from renewable sources.

“We want to share our knowledge and expertise on how to develop biofuels and enhance development. The time to invest in clean energy is now,” Adam Muniz, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Brazil to Kenya said.