INSIGHT : Sub-Saharan Africa's energy security and economic growth are stifled by the lack of infrastructure investment.

Insufficient infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa has dire consequences for fuel security, leading to costly stock-outs and shortages disrupting air travel, businesses, and transportation sectors.

CITAC, a leading downstream African energy specialist released a report which found that due to rapid urbanization and population growth in sub-Saharan Africa, the demand for energy, particularly transportation fuels, is projected to increase by 56% by 2040. In developed economies, pipelines are the preferred method of transporting large volumes of products due to factors such as reliability, security of supply, and road traffic congestion and safety.

The growing energy demand in sub-Saharan Africa necessitates increased international master-planning of infrastructure development to ensure energy security for the region's expanding economies. The CITAC report emphasizes the potential of public-private partnerships in addressing energy challenges and promoting international trade and investment.

The demographic trends in sub-Saharan Africa will put a strain on the already fragile and underdeveloped energy distribution system, demanding the scale-up of crucial infrastructure like ports, storage facilities, and pipelines. This expansion aims to improve the supply chain efficiency of fuels such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and kerosene to meet the growing demand and guarantee energy security.

The current infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa is insufficient to meet even the current demand. The region's fragile system was further aggravated by the Ukraine-Russia conflict in 2022, which disrupted the supply and availability of oil products. The report indicates that since 2022, 19 countries in sub-Saharan Africa have experienced jet fuel and road fuel shortages.

Vulnerability to supply chain disruptions can be attributed partly to the lack of adequate coastal and strategic storage capacity. Sub-Saharan Africa has only six percent of its storage facilities classified as "world scale" (i.e., capacity greater than 150,000 cubic meters). To enhance fuel security, an investment of $1.7 billion is required by 2040 to expand primary storage capacity to handle the increased import volumes.

Ports in the region are congested, with average wait times exceeding the global average of three days, sometimes extending up to six days or more. This results in costly demurrage fees. As of May 2024, demurrage fees for an MR-sized vessel were approximately $40,000 per day, a cost ultimately passed on to the end consumer.

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