October 18th, 2023
The Central African country of Chad is one of the poorest in the world, and Chad’s poverty extends to energy: the country of 17 million has just over 300 megawatts of installed generating capacity. Only 6% of the population have access to reliable power, mostly in the capital, N’Djamena. Mini-grids and solar home systems are Chad’s best bet for improving energy access in the near term, “in view of the serious affordability constraints, low density of the population, and the significant time and resources required to develop a national power grid,” according to the World Bank. International off-grid energy players have little presence in Chad. Ziz Energie develops and operates mini-grid networks for smaller cities and has five such metro grids in operation. A €1.5 million ($1.6 million) loan from the French development finance agency Proparco will help Ziz deliver energy access to 500,000 people.
Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.