Page 6 - AfrElec Week 25 2022

AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec

World has moral responsibility to

support vulnerable Africa’s green

transition, says IEA

AFRICA The wider world has a moral responsibility to compared with a projected 2bn tonne fall in
drive forward the green transition in Africa, advanced economies and a levelling off in China.
which has seen considerable slippage in growth Solar, other renewables and emerging areas
rates since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pan- such as critical minerals and green hydrogen
demic, the International Energy Agency (IEA) offer strong growth potential if managed well.
said in its African Energy Outlook. African countries are already attracting
High energy prices, vulnerability to climate increasing flows of climate finance, but also risk
change and the economic shock of Russia’s inva- being left behind in the race for investment, as
sion of Ukraine underscore both the urgency the continent offers high levels of risk.
and the benefits for Africa of accelerating the At stake is avoiding any backsliding on fossil
scale-up of cheaper and cleaner sources of fuels, resulting in Africa seeing a rise in oil, gas
energy, according to the IEA. and coal usage and increasing CO2 emissions.
The Outlook finds that renewables could offer
new promise for Africa’s economic and social Modern energy
development, while the continent could achieve The combination of crises, alongside the
universal access to power by 2030 at a cost of COVID-19 pandemic, has reversed several
$25bn per year. positive trends in improving access to modern
The IEA stresses that this amount is compar- energy that had developed across the continent,
atively small compared to global investment leaving 25mn more people in Africa living with-
needs and that the world has a moral duty to not out electricity today compared to before the
leave Africa behind. pandemic.
“It is morally unacceptable that the ongoing At the same time, Africa is also already facing
injustice of energy poverty in Africa isn’t being more severe effects from climate change than
resolved when it is so clearly well within our most other parts of the world – including mas-
means to do so,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA Exec- sive droughts – despite bearing the least respon-
utive Director. sibility for the problem. Africa accounts for less
Achieving Africa’s energy and climate goals than 3% of the world’s energy-related CO2 emis-
means more than doubling energy investment sions to date and has the lowest emissions per
this decade. This would require over $190bn per capita of any region.
year from 2026 to 2030, with two-thirds going to “Africa has had the raw end of the deal from
clean energy.“ the fossil fuel-based economy, receiving the
Multilateral development banks must take smallest benefits and the biggest drawbacks, as
urgent action to increase financial flows to Africa underlined by the current energy crisis,” said the
for both developing its energy sector and adapt- IEA’s Birol.
ing to climate change,” said Birol. “The new global energy economy that is
“The continent’s energy future requires emerging offers a more hopeful future for Africa,
stronger efforts on the ground that are backed with huge potential for solar and other renewa-
by global support. The COP27 Climate Change bles to power its development – and new indus-
Conference in Egypt in late 2022 provides a cru- trial opportunities in critical minerals and green
cial platform for African leaders to set the agenda hydrogen.
for the coming years. This decade is critical not “The immediate and absolute priority for
only for global climate action but also for the Africa and the international community is
foundational investments that will allow Africa to bring modern and affordable energy to all
– home to the world’s youngest population – to Africans – and our new report shows this can
flourish in the decades to come.” be achieved by the end of this decade through
The IEA said in June 2021 that emissions from annual investment of $25bn, the same amount
emerging and developing economies (EMDEs), needed to build just one new LNG terminal a
generally in Africa and Asia, were projected year,” Birol added. “It is morally unacceptable
to grow by 5bn tonnes per year (tpy) by 2040, that the ongoing injustice of energy poverty in

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