AT THE start of August, a gathering of Somali leaders in Mogadishu, their country's capital, backed a new constitution, paving the way for a new government to be sworn in on the 20th. The vote came shortly after two bombers tried to attack the meeting, so it is not surprising that concerns over the country's fragile recovery focus mainly on politics and security. But Somalia faces another sort of power struggle which may be just as big a brake on development.
The country's lack of electricity has long been a problem. After 20 years of war laid waste to much of the place's infrastructure, it was the private sector that stepped in. A study by the World Bank in 2004, when warlords held sway in most of Somalia, found that local entrepreneurs had discovered a way of getting round the dire lack of a functioning electricity grid, payment system or metering. “They have divided cities into manageable quarters and provide electricity locally using second-hand generators bought in Dubai,” said the report. Households fed up with living in the dark had a range of choices: they could pay for electricity during the day, during the evening, or round the clock. They could even be charged by the lightbulb.
While such ingenuity is commendable, the costs have been exorbitant. A patchwork of diesel generators provides electricity for people who can afford it. Somalia’s warlords and militias have been the chief beneficiaries. The cost has been far out of reach of the poor. And it has been exceptionally bad for business. There is no shortage of entrepreneurs in Mogadishu. But it is difficult to make money without affordable electricity. “Forget about development without it,” says Mohamed Nur, the city’s go-ahead mayor. Government officials and businessman in the capital estimate that a kilowatt of electricity costs $1.35, making it perhaps the most expensive in the world. In neighbouring Kenya it is five times cheaper, in Turkey about ten times, and in the United States about 12 times. The monthly bill for an average Mogadishu household with one electric light and two sockets is more than $100. Mr Nur complains that his monthly bill is $275. His two-bed house, with a fridge and two air-conditioners, is luxurious by the standards of most of his compatriots but would be thought modest in the West.
Now a Norwegian charity is running a pilot project to install 50 solar-powered street lights in the capital, while other donors are watching from a distance to see if that works. Liban Egal, a Somali entrepreneur who grew up in Baltimore in America, has started work with an American-trained chemist to produce bio-diesel from animal fat, which the cattle-herding Somalis normally have in abundance, along with used oil and chemicals. If they can get the mix right, their generators could in theory run on 40 cents a litre of bio-diesel instead of $1.20 for a litre imported fuel.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2 ... e_as_peace
