Jamila Ally Kombe is an electrical engineer with more than 20 years’ experience in power systems planning as well as energy systems engineering. She is a Board Director at the South African Energy Storage Association (SAESA) and Lead of the USAID-funder Power Africa – East Africa Energy Program (EAEP) portfolio.
“Electrical power is the blood of any economy. By making power accessible, cheap and reliable, countries are able to attract foreign investments and grow economically”
Jamila Kombe’s father would often tell his family about what it was like to grow up in a village with no access to electricity. Then, family trips throughout Africa in the 1980s brought home to her that a lack of energy access was not some homespun fairy tale, but a reality in which many are living.
Experiencing this lack of energy access was the start of Kombe’s motivation to improve the lives of others by creating electricity access for those less fortunate that still burns brightly, decades later.
She believes powering up Africa is the only way to unlock economic growth and thereby alleviate poverty. “Making electricity accessible to the entire continent will enable development, create jobs and improve the living conditions of many Africans,” say Kombe, who loves nothing better than a good challenge.
“It will also lay the foundation for a better future and opportunities for the youth and future generations. Electrical power is the blood of any economy. By making power accessible, cheap and reliable, countries are able to attract foreign investments and grow economically.”
She anticipates energy storage is about to play a big role in the African energy sector’s future. Her Masters in Engineering was on energy storage, and she currently serves as a director of the South African Energy Storage Association (SAESA).
“Often, when one speaks of energy storage, most people think about batteries. However, there are also other technologies like pumped storage power stations (for example, Drakensberg pumped storage scheme) that have been functioning for over 40 years. The application of energy storage is also critical in resolving network congestion as well as forming part of practical solutions resulting in the deferment of infrastructure investment within utilities at distribution level.”
Having worked across East and Southern Africa, Kombe feels one of the biggest challenges facing Africa’s power sector development is the financing of major infrastructure assets such as cross-border transmission powerlines interconnecting two different countries.
“The advantage of cross border transmission powerlines range from technical and economic, to addressing climate change and energy source diversification initiatives.”
“The opportunities available for Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and other innovative mechanisms to fund some of the cross-border transmission powerlines should be considered amongst alternatives to fund such major infrastructure projects because they can alleviate some of the funding constraints facing the region.”
This is why she thinks a functional PPP framework to attract potential funders and investors would be the best kind of policy adjustment any government could make in Africa.
Her vision for Africa is an interconnected continent with energy markets spanning from Southern Africa to the furthest tip of North Africa. “Africa has hydro, solar, wind, geothermal and gas, to name a few of these energy sources scattered in the various parts of the continent. But what will enable the continent to tap into this abundant and cheap energy is investing in constructing critical transmission interconnectors between countries.”
While she is constantly recommending Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of not giving a F*ck as a reality check to friends and family, the unacknowledged dog whisperer (“I am sure if I did not become an engineer, I would have been a veterinarian”) can’t help but get involved if anyone asks about becoming more self-reliant through a backup power system.
Not only would she recommend a reliable supplier, but she would make sure they follow through by driving them to the shop and establish they are fully conversant with the product before setting them loose to install it. Though, just to be doubly sure, she would be sure to point out where the power plug was before settling back into her own kitchen to whip up a celebratory snack. ESI
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