Carlos Lopes makes strong case for Africa’s agenda for transformation

Carlos Lopes makes strong case for Africa’s agenda for transformation and inclusive green growth

Paris France 1 December 2015 (ECA) – The UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Dr. Carlos Lopes today told participants at the inaugural ceremony of the African Pavilion at COP 21, that Africa’s agenda for structural transformation and inclusive green growth cannot be possible without access to low-carbon, reliable and affordable energy.

Speaking just before a landmark presentation on the forthcoming African Renewable Energy Initiative by the African Development Bank, Lopes whose Economic Commission for Africa champions the agenda for structural transformation and inclusive green growth, that renewable energy has a big role to play in this effort.
He noted with satisfaction that Africa is well endowed with all forms of renewable energy resources – hydropower, solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and even marine energy; but regretted the fact that “ today we are in a situation where the total installed electricity capacity in Africa is only about 160 gigawatts. By comparison, this is just over half of Japan’s installed capacity.”
“If we take out North Africa and South Africa, the installed capacity in the rest of Africa is less than that of South Africa”, he said.
Given the plentiful renewable energy resources of Africa, the energy mix of the continent is still dominated by fossil fuels (gas, coal and oil), with renewables making only 22% of the installed capacity, dominated by hydropower.
He recalled a number of initiatives on the ground to contribute to this transformation, saying that at the continental level we have the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and the resulting Africa Power Vision. We also have the UN Secretary General’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative; President Obama’s Power Africa; IRENA’s Africa Clean Energy Corridor; and now the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative.
“So, how can these various initiatives result in the transformative amounts of kilowatt hours that we need to develop Africa”, he lamented?
So far investments in renewable energy generation in the continent are less than optimal, even though some countries are already making tremendous progress. For example, between 2011 and 2015, South Africa, under its Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, has invested over 190 billion Rands – that is, approximately 14 billion US dollars - in some 92 projects to add 6.3 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity to its energy mix, thus contributing to the decarbonisation of its power sect.
About 72% percent of these investments have come from domestic resources. In 2014 alone, some 1.3 billion US dollars were invested in renewable energy projects in Kenya. Ethiopia’s Renaissance Dam, which will add some 6 gigawatts electricity capacity to the country’s power mix, is estimated to cost around 4.7 billion US dollars. The country’s Climate Resilient Green Economy strategy requires investments of between 150 and 200 billion US dollars over the next 10 years, he revealed.
He made the calculation that, investments of the order of 70 billion US dollars would be needed for Africa to add 300 gigawatts of electricity capacity from renewable sources in Africa by 2030.
But, where would these investments come from?, he questioned, regretting that public finance is certainly not enough; while the capitalisation of the green climate fund is still very low, at just over 10 billion US dollars, he explained.
He suggested that the investments needed would have to be mobilised from the private sector - domestically and through FDI - adding that Africa has the opportunity to increase domestic resources by increasing revenue collection and putting a stop to the 50 billion US dollars of illicit financial flows out of the continent each year.
“Contextualising the investment needs and where the money should come from to tackle climate change, it is obvious that we must step up the ambition of making climate finance adequate and effective; while mobilising 100 billion US dollars a year globally to tackle climate change is certainly not enough”, he contended.
He said that the urgent need to address climate change and the new demands for a rising Africa compel the continent’s development plans to evolve with new low-carbon energy initiatives that are considered as the holy grail for addressing its huge energy gap.

But this gap cannot be addressed definitively unless we take cognisance of at least three imperatives: (i) Africa’s infrastructural gap cannot be addressed in a vacuum – it has to be faced head on with energy as the enabler. Climate proofing our infrastructure is a no-regret option and will offer several win-wins to critical development sectors including water, agriculture and energy; (ii) climate finance represents a unique opportunity to address financing for development – and in many ways, climate finance, because of its all encompassing nature, can lead investments in the energy sector and offer sustainable solutions in key sectors that are climate sensitive; (iii) and, Africa’s future lies in the retention of green economies that can fuel growth, generate green jobs and enable the continent to grow its way to low carbon development technologies.

He said that Africa has the potential and must lead on low carbon development, adding that this can be a new niche market that secures Africa’s place at the centre of the world economy.

“As our economies experience a steady growth and our growth trajectory becomes more energy intensive, we need to get even with energy poverty and use all of our resources to ensure that our energy potential is measured in terms of sustained economic prosperity and equality of opportunities for all”, he concluded.

Issued by ECA Communication Service