Africa is set to become increasingly influential in shaping global energy trends over the next two decades as it undergoes the largest process of urbanisation the world has ever seen, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency has said.
“Africa Energy Outlook 2019,” finds that current policy and investment plans in African countries are not enough to meet the energy needs of the continent’s young and rapidly growing population.
Today, 600 million people in Africa do not have access to electricity and 900 million lack access to clean cooking facilities, notes the report.
The number of people living in Africa’s cities is expected to expand by 600 million over the next two decades, much higher than the increase experienced by China’s cities during the country’s 20-year economic and energy boom.
Africa’s overall population is set to exceed 2 billion before 2040, accounting for half of the global increase over that period.
These profound changes will drive the continent’s economic growth, infrastructure development and, in turn, energy demand, which is projected to rise 60 percent to around 1,320 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2040, based on current policies and plans.
The new report is the IEA’s most comprehensive and detailed work to date on energy across the African continent, with a particular emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa.
It includes detailed energy profiles of 11 countries that represent three-quarters of the region’s gross domestic product and energy demand, including Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Ghana.
“Africa has a unique opportunity to pursue a much less carbon-intensive development path than many other parts of the world,” Dr. Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director said in a statement issued in Nairobi on Friday.
“To achieve this, it has to take advantage of the huge potential that solar, wind, hydropower, natural gas, and energy efficiency offer. For example, Africa has the richest solar resources on the planet but has so far installed only 5 gigawatts of solar photovoltaics (PV), which is less than 1 percent of global capacity,” Birol noted.
The report makes clear that Africa’s energy future is not predetermined. Current plans would leave 530 million people on the continent still without access to electricity in 2030, falling well short of universal access, a major development goal.
But with the right policies, it could reach that target while also becoming the first continent to develop its economy mainly through the use of modern energy sources.
Drawing on rich natural resources and advances in technology, the continent could by 2040 meet the energy demands of an economy four times larger than today’s with only 50 percent more energy, notes the report.
JK/as/APA