Zambia Energy Situation

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Zambia

Capital:

Lusaka

Region:

Sub-Saharan Africa

Coordinates:

15.4167° S, 28.2833° E

Total Area (km²): It includes a country's total area, including areas under inland bodies of water and some coastal waterways.

752,610

Population: It is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship--except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin.

20,017,675 (2022)

Rural Population (% of total population): It refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population.

54 (2022)

GDP (current US$): It is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources.

29,163,782,138 (2022)

GDP Per Capita (current US$): It is gross domestic product divided by midyear population

1,456.90 (2022)

Access to Electricity (% of population): It is the percentage of population with access to electricity.

46.69 (2021)

Energy Imports Net (% of energy use): It is estimated as energy use less production, both measured in oil equivalents. A negative value indicates that the country is a net exporter. Energy use refers to use of primary energy before transformation to other end-use fuels, which is equal to indigenous production plus imports and stock changes, minus exports and fuels supplied to ships and aircraft engaged in international transport.

8.29 (2013)

Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption (% of total): It comprises coal, oil, petroleum, and natural gas products.

10.56 (2013)

Source: World Bank

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Energy Situation

On-grid vs. Off-grid electrification scenarios

The World Bank, ESMAP and KTH Division of Energy Systems Analysis have developed National High Resolution Dynamic Least Cost Options Plan for Universal Access to Electricity in Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia in 2018. The web-based open source application presented here allows the users to select scenarios based on electricity consumption targeted (Tiers of access) and spatially related fuel costs. For Zambia, it is foreseen that 86% of the population not yet connected will be connected by stand alone (PV) systems, while 14% will be connected via grid-extentions. Out of the total investments costs of 390 million USD, roughly 45% is foreseen for the grid-extensions while off-grid electrifications with PV standalone systems will be covered by 55%. Check out the tool to explore different scenarios at http://electrification.energydata.info/presentation/

Key Problems of the Energy Sector

Power Africa lists the following issues as Zambia's energy sector's most challenging:

• Continued market-based reforms
  
• Lacking credit-worthiness of off-taker
  
• Growing government debt
  
• Transmission and distribution capacity lag
  

Further Information

• Get.invest's Market Insights Package for Zambia 
• USAID Power Africa: Zambia Factsheet