Renewable energy is Africa’s development answer

(Context, 13 Feb 2023) Fossil fuels have not delivered for Africa – but clean power could

Joab Okanda is a senior advocacy advisor at Christian Aid.

Africa is better off investing in the energy of the future - renewables.

The era of fossil fuels as the primary energy source is soon coming to an end, having powered the modern-day global economy at a heavy cost to the environment, with the planet heating up.

Africa is starting from a low development base, racing to make up for decades of under-investment. The good news is that the continent could rapidly accelerate this progress by going green.

Clearly, the economic model that most African countries inherited post-independence has failed to deliver universal energy access many decades later.

Nigeria, for instance, has long had its oil reserves extracted in huge volumes yet it still grapples with energy challenges. Likewise, South Africa, heavily reliant on coal-fired stations, continues to suffer from rolling blackouts even after exploiting its vast coal deposits.

We’ve started seeing a shift, with decentralised technologies powered by wind and solar lighting up thousands of remote villages that would otherwise have remained in darkness probably for another century.

External link

Context, 13 Feb 2023: Renewable energy is Africa’s development answer