Africa |
Time to change the narrative
As IWP&DC discovered, there is much to discuss with regards to climate change, water supplies, hydropower potential and investment across Africa
Above: The Steenbras Dam in Western Cape, South Africa, is one of the main water supply dams to the City of Cape Town. Pictured at very low levels in January 2019. Officials say that that it can never be communicated enough that South Africa is water-scarce country Credit: Danie Nel Photography /
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AN ENERGY SYSTEM CENTRED on renewable energy can help resolve many of Africa’s social, economic, health and environmental challenges, according to new analysis published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB). Such an energy transition is not only feasible, the two organisations state, but essential for a climate-safe future in which sustainable development prerogatives are met. The report, Renewable Energy Market Analysis: Africa and its Regions, shows how an integrated policy framework built around the energy transition could bring a wave of new sustainable energy investment to Africa, growing the region’s economy by 6.4% by 2050 and creating further gains in human welfare in each region of the continent.
“Africa’s governments and people are too often
Below: Katse Dam in Lesotho spilling on 17 January 2022. By the end of January 2022, the dam was more than 40% higher than during the same period in the previous year. Credit: Matt T Jackson /
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asked to rely on unsustainable fossil fuels to power their development when renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions offer economically attractive and socially beneficial alternatives,” said Francesco La Camera, Director-General of IRENA. “The transition offers a unique opportunity for Africa to meet its development imperatives. Through tailored policy packages, African countries can harness their strengths and resources to overcome long-established structural dependencies.” The report shows that African renewable energy deployment has grown in recent years. Over the past decade of 2010-20, renewables-based generation capacity on the continent grew by 7% - largely driven by utility-scale hydropower and solar projects. And although the region is prospering significantly from such development which has greatly improved energy access, welfare and environmental benefits for people, a large part of Africa has so far been left out of the energy transition: ● Only 2% of global investments in renewable energy in the last two decades was made in Africa, with significant regional disparities.
● Less than 3% of global renewables jobs are in Africa. ● In Sub-Saharan Africa, electrification rate was static at 46% in 2019 with 906 million people still lacking access to clean cooking fuels and technologies.
10 | March 2022 |
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“Africa is endowed with abundant renewable energy sources, upon which it can sustainably base its ambitious socio-economic development,” said Dr Kevin Kariuki, African Development Bank, Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth. At 34GW capacity by the end of 2020, hydropower
is the largest source of renewables-based electricity in Africa, with a sizeable unexploited potential. However, as Kariuki points out, developing such resources “requires strong political commitment, a just and equitable energy transition framework, and massive investments”. He added that the African Development Bank is committed to supporting the continent’s energy transition, by facilitating increased private sector investments through its expanding range of green finance instruments, including the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa.
“Enabling African countries, which have contributed
little to historic greenhouse gas emissions, to develop, while recognising the need to address the climate emergency is imperative,” IRENA Director-General La Camera commented.
Cameroon commitment CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution,
announced that it exceeded its 2020 commitment to invest £2 billion in Africa over the past two years. A £75.5 million commitment to the Nachtigal Hydro Power in Cameroon is among the major infrastructure investments it has recently made. The company, which is soon to be renamed British
International Investment (BII), said it had invested almost £2.2 billion in African businesses in 2020 and 2021, despite the unprecedented upheaval caused by the Covid pandemic. Nick O’Donohoe, Chief Executive of CDC/BII, said: “I am delighted that we exceeded the ambitious target we set at the Africa Investment Summit held in London in 2020. This was during a period when CDC rapidly pivoted to support our portfolio and mitigate the economic fallout of the pandemic in the countries in which we invest. The role of DFIs such as CDC was vital in supporting vulnerable countries that did not have the financial reserves to protect their economies.”
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