Aly Sanoh, PhD in Sustainable Development Candidate, expected to graduate in May 2012. 

During his six years in SIPA’s PhD program, Sanoh has focused on national electricity planning in and across African countries. He has published his first two papers on this topic: 

• National electricity planning in settings with low pre-existing grid coverage: Development of a spatial model and case study of Kenya (2009) 

• Local and national electricity planning in Senegal: Scenarios and policies (2011)

Sanoh has already made a difference in real-world policy decisions. The infrastructure modeling that he did in these papers for local and national electricity planning in Senegal and Kenya  was a factor in the World Bank’s decision to finance a $20 million wind project in Senegal and a $60 million energy project in Kenya, according to him. 

A central topic of his thesis has been an infrastructure development project that looks at expanding electricity networks in Africa on a continental scale by conducting economic modeling.

“How do you do that in the best way, in the cheapest way?” he asked. “Because resources are there, what is the best way to move them? Institutionally, it’s a horror.”

For example, there are security issues. The Congo has a lot of resources and little need, while South Africa has little resources and high need. However, there are risks in having your resources depend on a country that’s at war. Sanoh proposes different scenarios to minimize risks.

“You have to package it in a way that’s appealing to both sides,” he said.

“I’m proposing to reduce regional barriers. It’s always good to do integration, but you always have to show benefits and costs. So I’m happy to show what’s gained from it is greater than what’s lost.

I’m going to prove numerically that what I’m proposing as a plan is a better option economically and socially.”

- Michelle Chahine