By Enyichukwu Enemanna
African Development Bank (AfDB) Group President, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, has called on African leaders and investors to shift more focus towards harnessing the renewable energy sources available in the continent.
The AfDB chief said Africa’s significant cobalt, manganese and platinum reserves could be utilised to build a robust manufacturing sector, instead of exporting such mineral resources in raw form.
“Africa is a crucial source for minerals and metals for clean energy value chains, including electric vehicles and utility-scale battery storage. Africa is the perfect place to build lithium-ion batteries to power German cars,” Adesina said while addressing participants at the recently concluded Ninth Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue, hosted by the German Government.
He harped on the urgent need for the world to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and harness Africa’s renewable energy sources, while also underscoring Africa’s success and enormous potential to become a global leader in sustainable development.
He said Africa’s energy transition would require an estimated $100 billion yearly between 2020 and 2040.
Citing a reviewed 2022 report, he said at least 600 million people did not have access to electricity, while 970 million people lacked access to clean energy for cooking.
The AfDB boss warned that for Africa to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), seven of affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, Africa must connect 90 million people yearly to electricity by 2030.
He also urged that the continent must also remove 130 million people from dirty cooking fuels yearly.
Adesina reiterated that AfDB was spearheading efforts to unlock Africa’s vast renewable energy potential, with 86 per cent of its power generation investments in renewables and a ban on coal energy projects.
He insisted that natural gas should be crucial to Africa’s diversified energy mix to guarantee a secure energy supply for industries and residences.
“Africa, just like Germany and Europe, must be given time to transition and be allowed to use its natural gas resources as a transition fuel.
“While Africa will do everything possible to expand the use of renewable energy, the intermittency sources, such as wind and solar, made it impossible to guarantee the security of supply. Natural gas is, therefore, a key part of the energy mix for assuring the security of supply and critical for Africa,” he said.
