Energy consumption patterns in Africa: The role of biomass fuels for cooking and fuel use in the transportation sector

We investigate energy consumption patterns in Africa especially in the area of biomass fuels and fuel use in the transportation sector. Utilizing various data sources for the analysis. We find a broad but significant evidence that fuelwood is the most consumed cooking fuel in Africa and more so in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where more than 80% depend on this fuel for cooking. It also reveals that the predominant cooking technology in SSA is traditional cookstoves. The high dependence on fuelwood usage via traditional cookstoves suggest that the utilization of biomass fuel for cooking is generally inefficient and creates a dependence pattern that is unsustainable. In the area of transportation, the evidence suggests though the motorisation rate in Africa is below the world average, it is still a major consumer of fossil fuel (oil demand) in Africa. This among other things suggest that the transport sector is inefficient in oil consumption, caused by factors that include poor infrastructure such as low paved roads (this create traffic congestion on the few motorable roads), poor maintenance and servicing culture and the high dependence on used cars.