Africa Light Up

12

Electricity

generating sets has doubled (by value)

every year for the last four. In 2005 the

South West African oil producer imported

$21.7Million worth, and by 2008 this gure

had risen to $164.3Million, drawing in

24,580 units in all sizes.

The growing middle class in Luanda,

Angola’s capital city, used money they

made from the country’s oil boom to

purchase over 3,000 individual 7.5-75 kVA

units at an estimated value of $8Million.

The 75-375KVA range accounted for 2052

units worth approximately $17.3Million,

and sets over 375 up to 2,000 kVA

accounted for the remaining $85.2Million.

Twenty three African countries account

for 96 per cent of the total, of which just

five countries - Nigeria, South Africa, -

accounted for 64 per cent $925million.

Every serious producer of generating

sets beneted from the boom in sales to

the dark continent in 2008, the year that

other businesses headed into decline. U.S

exports which are minimal in comparison

with the size of its economy, almost trebled

from $26.7Million, in 2007 to $80 Million, in

2008. China, in particular made more than

double the value of sales it made in 2007,

jumping from$126Million to $387.6Million,

Japan and the European Union, show a

healthy increase of diesel generating sets

exported to Africa, but Turkey has shown a

big rise (up by $2.3Million to $31.3Million).

This has been in the larger - over-500 kVA

size range - of gen-sets.

Imports into South Africa accounted for

the bigger sizes of diesel red generators,

over 75KVA, were valued at $133.7Million

and