Africa’s Energy Transition – Finding the Right Mix to Drive Economic Prosperity

Monday, April 11,  2022 / 09:41 AM / by Patrick Conroy and Mark Venables,
Africa Oil Week / Header Image Credit: The News Chronicle 

Supply unreliability is
a concern holding back economic development, with most countries facing
frequent blackouts

There is a saying; ‘oil and water don’t mix’. While
that may be true on a meta-physical level, it isn’t true when it comes to
Africa’s energy needs.

With the population of the continent expected to
double by 2100 this creates a daunting energy challenge, combined with rising
expectations of improved resilience and sustainability. Finding a sustainable
way to meet growing energy needs is one of the core development challenges.

While Africa is rich in renewable energy sources it
must also lift nearly half-a-billion people out of poverty according to the
United Nations These, and other challenges will come under the spotlight when
heads of state, business leaders, energy experts and investors meet at African
Oil Week and the Green Energy Africa Summit in Cape Town, October 3rd – 7th
this year.

Here decisions on the right energy mix will have far-reaching consequences. Endowed with both hydrocarbons and substantial renewable
energy resources, Africa can adopt innovative, sustainable technologies and
play a leading role in global action to shape a sustainable energy future. In
addition to AOW the Green Energy Africa Summit will take place at the same time
and same venue.

“As organisers of the event we realise that Africa
needs energy solutions which vary from traditional oil and gas to renewables” says Paul Sinclair, VP for Energy at AOW.

“We want delegates to be able to engage on a
360-degree basis and explore the best opportunities for their markets” he says.

Supporting a renewable
future for Africa 

Renewables provide the chance for Africa to leapfrog
to a sustainable, prosperous future. Increasing access to reliable, affordable,
and clean energy resources is a key priority, particularly in Sub-Saharan
Africa. Around 600 million people in Africa still have no access to power,
representing 48 per cent of the continent’s population of nearly 1.2 billion.
Accelerated deployment of renewables creates jobs and brings health benefits.
The renewable energy sector today employs 10.3 million people worldwide. With
far-sighted industrial policies and targeted skills development, millions of
new jobs can be created in Africa. Doubling the share of renewables by 2030
would create additional economic value by increasing global gross domestic
product by up to 1.1 per cent. This would signify a 3.7 per cent improvement in
global welfare and jobs for over 24 million people in the renewable energy
sector. This would enable further economic benefits such as improved healthcare
services, especially in the most remote areas.

Supply unreliability is a concern holding back
economic development, with most countries facing frequent blackouts.

According to the ‘Scaling Up Renewable Energy
Deployment in Africa’ report from the International Renewable Energy Agency
(IRENA), Africa could meet nearly a quarter of its energy needs from indigenous
and clean renewable energy by 2030. Modern renewables amounting to 310 GW could
provide half the continent’s total electricity generation capacity. This
corresponds to a sevenfold increase from the capacity currently available,
which amounted to 42 GW. A transformation of this scale in Africa’s energy
sector would require an average annual investment of $70 billion to 2030,
resulting in carbon-dioxide emissions reductions of up to 310 mega tonnes per
annum.

Meanwhile hydrocarbons will continue to supply the
remainder of Africa’s energy needs until such a time that green energy forms
the basis of the continent’s power demands. Of course, carbon-based fuels are
increasingly undesirable. However, it must be remembered that Africa produces
less than 3.8% of the planet’s greenhouse gases. When it comes to climate
change Africa has the smallest footprint globally.

According to the late global health expert and
statistician, Hans Rosling, the richest billion people contribute to over half
of all CO2 emissions. This puts the responsibility for reduced carbon emissions
squarely in the court of developed countries.

Signs of Hope 

In West Africa the new Regional Electricity Access and
Battery-Energy Storage Technologies (BEST) Project, supported with $465 million
from the World Bank Group, will increase grid connections in fragile areas of
the Sahel, build the capacity of the Economic Community of West Africa States
(ECOWAS) Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA), and strengthen the
West Africa Power Pool’s (WAPP) network operation with battery-energy storage
technologies infrastructure. This is a pioneering move that makes way for
increased renewable energy generation, transmission, and investment across the
region.

Over the past decade, the World Bank has financed
close to $2.3 billion of investments in infrastructure and reforms in support
of WAPP, considered the key to achieving universal access to electricity by
2030 in the 15 ECOWAS countries. This new project builds on progress and will
finance civil works to accelerate access in Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal.

Last year the World Bank approved a $500 million
International Development Association (IDA) credit to support Ethiopia’s goal
of achieving universal electricity access by 2025. Over the past decade, the
Government of Ethiopia has made encouraging progress on its electrification
program and expanded the grid network coverage to nearly 60 per cent of towns
and villages. Despite this progress, Ethiopia has the third largest energy
access deficit in Sub-Saharan Africa with more than half the population still
without access to reliable electricity, especially in deep-rural areas which
are dependent on biomass and kerosene. The electricity deficit in Ethiopia
continues to exacerbate the poverty situation, preventing far too many people
from fulfilling their basic socio-economic needs and limiting access to
opportunity.

Conclusion 

Africa cannot follow the same energy path as the
developed world, nor can it afford to ignore its natural energy resources in
favour of green energy solutions if it is to meet its economic and social
upliftment goals.

As the lowest contributor to climate change Africa
must be given the latitude to develop a just and equitable energy mix of
hydrocarbons and renewables to achieve economic growth, reduce child mortality
and improve social upliftment in her nation states.

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