Nigeria: Africa Requires Funds To Address Energy Poverty—AfDB

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) says Africa is energy poor and requires a significant inflow of infrastructure investment and funds to achieve its energy goal.

“Lack of energy security poses an existential threat to human security. Consequently, many countries are prioritising energy security even as increased fossil fuel use impairs climate action; with their energy security plans centred on gas as a transition fuel,” Akinwumi Adesina, President of AfDB, said in an address read for him by Lamin Barrow, the Director-General of AfDB, at the 2023 Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES) in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.

The summit, which started on April 16 and ended on April 20, 2023, was on the theme: ‘Global perspectives for a sustainable energy future’.

In his address which focused on ‘security versus energy transition—global perspectives for a sustainable energy future’, Adesina said despite the crucial need for energy security, access to finance for developing countries was increasingly being made contingent to net zero commitment.

He added that Africa’s energy transition required US$100 billion annually in investments between 2020 and 2040.

According to the AfDB boss, many Asian countries have prioritised energy security by increasing purchases above price caps and in non-dollar denominated contracts while Germany and the UK have turned back to coal for power generation.

Taking a cue from this, Adesina said that through a combination of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, green hydrogen etc and the pragmatic utilisation of gas as a transition fuel, the continent was well positioned to achieve net zero target.

“To guarantee food and energy security, Africa must build a domestic economy resilient to global and regional shocks which have increased in intensity and frequency. To meet SDG7, African countries need to connect 90 million people annually to electricity over the next eight years and move 130 million people to use clean cooking fuels,” he added.

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com