Page 12 - AfrElec Annual Review 2021

AfrElec JUNE AfrElec

EU, IEA call for energy access to be

centre of African development finance

AFRICA EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans and IEA governments.
Executive Director Fatih Birol said that Africa He also called for private investment, saying
could achieve universal access to power by 2030 that public funding alone was not enough. Pri-
if the rest of the world, led by Europe, puts energy vate sector investments would be key and many
access at the centre of their economic co-opera- European companies are ready to step in.
tion with Africa. Universal energy access has long been a cen-
He said that 30% of the EU’s international tral target of the African Development Bank
economic co-operation budget would be spent (AfDB).
combating climate change. Indeed, the AfDB and the European Bank
Timmermans and Birol pointed out that for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
Africa was the world’s premium location to har- recently identified that Africa had a $2.5 trillion
ness solar energy and is already demonstrating annual financing gap for development.
that a cleaner path is possible. The two have signed a new partnership to
This contrasts with Asia, where much of the ensure increased participation of the private
electrification seen in the past 20 years has been sector in financing and implementation of sus-
powered by coal. tainable projects.
Africa’s renewables potential is well known, The EBRD and AfDB are partnering to
but it has so far been underexploited. encourage, source and provide new funding to
Timmermans said that 20mn people per year help bridge this $2.5 trillion gap.
had gained access to electricity for the first time The AfDB also noted in January that COVID-
between 2014 and 2019, largely because of solar 19 was increasing poverty across the African con-
and hydro. tinent and threatening markets and livelihoods.
However, more urgent action is needed, and The AfDB and the EU-backed European
the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has caused Investment Bank (EIB) in January signed an
significant setbacks for progress towards univer- agreement to boost public and private sector
sal energy access by 2030. investment in Africa, especially in major infra-
In 2020, the number of people in sub-Saharan structure, power and sustainability projects.
Africa without access to electricity actually grew. The EIB noted that development finance was
This was the first rise in seven years, and was crucial to sustainable development.
caused by pandemic restrictions holding back The EIB and AfDB’s shared loan portfolio has
work to connect homes, businesses, schools and grown to €3.4bn over the past five years, which
hospitals. has leveraged investment totalling €10.2bn for 26
Growth in access-to-power had also failed to projects across the continent.
keep pace with population growth. The AfDB’s Desert to Power Initiative, mean-
Timmermans stressed that the IEA and while, aims to mobilise public and private fund-
the European Commission, through its Green ing to install 10 GW of solar power by 2025 in
Energy Initiative, were putting clean energy 11 countries in the Sahel region of the African
access at the heart of collaboration with African continent.™

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