McKinsey recently published a study on the growth potential of the sub-Saharan electricity sector, "Brigther Africa". The study projects that sub-Saharan Africa will consume nearly 1,600 terawatt hours by 2040, four times what was used in 2010.

By 2040, sub-Saharan Africa will consume as much electricity as India and Latin America combined did in 2010, but 20-30 percent of the continent's population will still not have access to electricity.

McKinsey estimates that if every country carry out the most cost-effective expansion of their power sector, the investments needed to 2040 would be $490 billion of capital for new generating capacity, plus another $345 billion for transmission and distribution.

In this Reference scenario, the share of natural gas in power generation increases from 6 to 44 % in 2040, at the expense of coal that drops from 51 to 23 % in terms of marketshare, see Exhibit C.

McKinsey also submitted an alternative scenario called the High-renewables case, marked by a significantly faster expansion of wind and particularly solar PV. If sub-Saharan Africa aggressively promotes renewables, it would obtain a 27 percent reduction in CO₂ emissions from power generation. However, the consultants estimate that this "green scenario" would require additional capital spending of about $150 billion, or 18 percent more capital spending than in the Reference scenario.

As McKinsey recognise, a strong push for solar and wind would not only lead to less emissions, but also reduced long-term fuel cost. In addition, solar PV also has the advantage that installations can be ramped up rapidly to meet the growing power demand. No other source of electricity has this flexibility.