ENERGY RESOURCES IN AFRICA

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ENERGY RESOURCES IN AFRICA

1.- Among natural resources, energy resources play a fundamental role in the economic and social development of human societies- Any progress is reflected in a regular and often substantial increase in energy consumption.

2. In Western civilizations and elsewhere, energy is increasingly related to power and is considered a dynamic determinant of economic growth. Nowadays it is energy that dictates the rate of growth and economic development "because it almost always determines the rate of development of all the other sectors of the economy.

3. In many international statistics, national revenue indicators and energy consump tion indicators are correlated. It would of course be wrong to think that energy consumption engenders national income, but there is some relationship between the two.

This relationship becomes stronger among all the productive activities in a country as of the time when agriculture ceases to be based exclusively on food crops and crops are export-oriented .requiring processing, even at the industrial level, and when local industries begin at least partially to serve domestic markets, trade expands and adequate administrative machinery is built up.

4. It should however be stressod that to increase national revenue, many inputs and  their accessories are required and they all consume energy: power facilities, raw materials for transformation, industrial products, transport and other facilities of all kinds as well as luxury items.

5. Frequently, defects in the production and supply systems and the simple lack of adequate energy considerably impede or even paralyse the operation's of the productive machinery of a country. Energy is thus essential in public life and the reason for its being a State monopoly can be found in the often disproportionate burden caused by the shortage of resources or irregularity of supply.

6. Without being the only factor in economic and social development, energy is an . indispensable element because, by taking advantage of available energy resources, a country can strive effectively towards the creation of an economic climate conducive to industrial development.