African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy & ICT H.E Dr Amani Abou-Zeid says Africa is not much concerned about the much talked about energy transition that the Western nations are pushing for.
According to her, what the continent is concerned about is Africans getting excess electricity to spur economic growth.
She noted that 600 million Africans do not have electricity while 900 million do not have access to clean cooking and so wondered why the continent should be worried about the energy transition.
“When you say energy transition, it does not reflect in the lives of the people in Africa.
“For Africans, our agenda between now and 2063 is access to reliable and affordable energy,” she explained.
Contributing to the discussion on ‘Designing an Economic Blueprint for Harmonisation of Energy Development Across Africa’ at this year’s Africa Oil Week, which started today, Monday, in Dubai, H.E Dr Amani Abou-Zeid noted that the continent’s population is growing at a faster rate and, therefore, needs energy.
She described it as sad that although energy is playing a key role in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, only 25 per cent of the health sector in Sub-Saharan Africa has energy.
“The fact remains that majority of our population still needs energy now especially in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic,” she pointed out.
In her view, Africa has abundant energy resources such as solar and wind and called for efforts to ensure that citizens who are without electricity are connected.
She described it as an unfair push by the West for investors to stop investing in oil and gas.
Speaking on the same platform, the Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), H.E Wankele Keabetsewe Mene stressed the need for electricity interconnectivity among African countries.
Making a strong case for affordable electricity in Africa, H.E Keabetsewe Mene said: “If we don’t have reliable and affordable energy, we won’t succeed,” he said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com