The energy challenges the African continent is currently facing are going to be solved by entrepreneurs or private sector players and not governments.
This is according a Ugandan-based entrepreneur and project coordinator at Power Africa, Dominic Mark Mugisha.
He argued that it is going to be difficult for African governments to be able to resolve power challenges without private sector players because it requires a lot of money.
In his view, entrepreneurs or the private businesses are the ones who have the resources and technology to turn things around, stressing that what the private sector players need is for government to create enabling environment by removing certain bottlenecks that frustrate and impede the efforts of the private sector players.
“We want a clear regulatory framework. We want certainty. There should be clear guidelines and we want prompt response to our requests from regulators,” he stated.
Sharing his experience with participants during a panel discussion at the IEEE Power Africa Conference, in Abuja, Nigeria, Mr Mugisha, whose company is into mini-grid development, enumerated a number of challenges they go through to get things done.
He said in the past, it could take one between two or more years to get a permit to start a solar power project in Uganda.
He, however, said the situation is changing.
“Because of the proactive engagement between industry players and the regulatory the time has now reduced tremendously. We can now get a project licence or permit in about six or eight months, depending on the project side,” he explained.
He said the private sector knows how to use the latest technology and resources to address energy challenges and urged governments in Africa to do well to make things easier for them.
Suleiman Yusuf, founder of Blue Camel Energy, Nigeria, and CEO of REI, Cameroon, Jude Numfor, were other panel members who shared their experiences as entrepreneurs in the energy sector in their respective countries.