Officials of the governments of Ethiopia and South Sudan have expressed their plan to interconnect the two neighbouring nations through an energy grid. This was made known during a meeting between a delegation from the Ethiopian Electric Authority and South Sudan’s Minister of Energy and Dams, Peter Marello.
According to EEP Deputy CEO Andualem Siae Seboka who led the Ethiopian delegation, the country’s green energy capacity will generate in excess of 70,000 gigawatts whilst using predominantly environmentally friendly sources.
Whilst Ethiopia’s energy generation has increased in the last decade and now reaches half of its 117 million-strong population, its neighbour to the west, South Sudan has it much worse: only about 7% of its 12.5 million people have access to electricity, making it the least-electrified country in the world.
However, both countries have collaborated more in recent years in areas such as security and cross-border trade. Ethiopia through its electric authority has restated its commitment to support not only South Sudan by the entire East African region by expanding existing electricity connections, as well as identifying better ways of connecting these two countries.