Persistent power shortages and unreliable electricity supply are undermining manufacturing growth and limiting industrial competitiveness across Africa, Schneider Electric has warned, stressing that energy deficits remain one of the biggest obstacles to economic transformation.
The company said the continent’s drive toward industrialisation, digital transformation, and regional trade expansion is increasingly being constrained by inadequate energy infrastructure, despite growing ambitions under initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area.
General Manager, Anglophone Africa, at Schneider Electric, Ajibola Akindele, said energy remains the foundation of every major development pathway, from industrial growth to digital transformation and urbanisation.
“Every serious conversation about Africa’s future eventually arrives at the same point: energy,” he said in a note shared with The PUNCH.
He said West Africa’s ambitions are not in question but stressed that the region’s energy system has not evolved at the same pace as its economic aspirations.
“The region’s ambition is not
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