A Zambian policy expert has showcased an ambitious model for tackling energy poverty while pursuing climate goals.
Slyvester Kaonga caught the attention of participants at a regional parliamentary forum in Nairobi focused on methane reduction and climate action.
According details, Kaonga outlined an ambitious Zambia government-backed plan to build community-owned solar plants in every constituency.
The decentralised energy strategy offers lessons for African countries such as Rwanda grappling with rising energy demand, climate shocks and uneven electricity access.
Kaonga, a senior research officer at Zambia’s National Assembly and desk officer for the Zambian Parliamentary Caucus on Environment and Climate Change, described the Presidential Constituency Energy Initiative (PCEI) as a “fundamental shift” in how Zambia approaches development, energy generation and local governance.
Zambia plans to install 2-megawatt solar power plants across all constituencies, transforming local communities into energy producers capable of supplying electricity to the national grid while generating revenue for local development.
“This initiative is aimed at transforming constituencies into energy hubs,” Kaonga told lawmakers and climate delegates attending the Regional Parliamentary Seminar on Climate Action and Methane Reduction in Nairobi.
The model represents one of Africa’s most aggressive attempts to decentralize energy production and place renewable energy ownership directly into local communities.
Kaonga said the approach allows communities not only to access power locally, but also to earn income by selling excess electricity into the national grid under newly introduced “open access” electricity reforms passed by Parliament.
“In short, we are saying households and constituencies will now be able to produce power at local level and sell part of that power to the national grid,” he said.
Kaonga also used the forum to announce that Zambia’s Parliament had unanimously passed a motion urging the government to develop a national methane abatement strategy, one of the first such parliamentary-backed initiatives on the continent.
The Nairobi forum, convened by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Climate Parliament and other partners, brought together lawmakers from 21 African countries to discuss methane reduction, climate financing and energy transition policies.
