Boost investment in Africa’s energy for a triple win for people, power and planet, Annan report urges
Posted in
Habari na Jicho Pevu la Kijiwe
No comments
Monday, June 8, 2015
By
danielmjema.blogspot.com
CAPE-TOWN, South-Africa, June 5, 2015/ -- African
governments, investors, and international financial institutions must
significantly scale up investment in energy to unlock Africa’s potential
as a global low-carbon superpower.
That is the main message of a new report from Kofi Annan’s Africa Progress Panel, Power, People, Planet: Seizing Africa’s Energy and Climate Opportunities (http://www.
To download a copy of the 2015 Africa Progress Report visit www.africaprogresspanel.org.
Livestream of the event: http://www.weforum.org/events/
“We
categorically reject the idea that Africa has to choose between growth
and low-carbon development,” said Kofi Annan, Chair of the Africa
Progress Panel. “Africa needs to utilize all of its energy assets in the
short term, while building the foundations for a competitive,
low-carbon energy infrastructure.”
In
Sub-Saharan Africa, 621 million people lack access to electricity – and
this number is rising. Excluding South Africa, which generates half the
region’s electricity, Sub-Saharan Africa uses less electricity than
Spain. It would take the average Tanzanian eight years to use as much
electricity as an average American consumes in a single month. And over
the course of one year someone boiling a kettle twice a day in the
United Kingdom uses five times more electricity than an Ethiopian
consumes over the same year.
Power
shortages diminish the region’s growth by 2-4 per cent a year, holding
back efforts to create jobs and reduce poverty. Despite a decade of
growth, the power generation gap between Africa and other regions is
widening. Nigeria is an oil exporting superpower, but 95 million of the
country’s citizens rely on wood, charcoal and straw for energy.
The
report reveals that households living on less than US$2.50 a day
collectively spend US$10 billion every year on energy-related products,
such as charcoal, kerosene, candles and torches. Measured on a per unit
basis, Africa’s poorest households are spending around US$10/kWh on
lighting – 20 times more than Africa’s richest households. By
comparison, the national average cost for electricity in the United
States is US$0.12/kWh and in the United Kingdom is US$0.15/kWh.
This
is a significant market failure. Low-cost renewable technologies could
reduce the cost of energy, benefiting millions of poor households,
creating investment opportunities, and cutting carbon emissions.
The
report says Africa’s leaders must start an energy revolution that
connects the unconnected, and meets the demands of consumers, businesses
and investors for affordable and reliable electricity.
The 2015 Africa Progress Report urges African governments to:
•
Use the region’s natural gas to provide domestic energy as well as
exports, while harnessing Africa’s vast untapped renewable energy
potential.
•
Cut corruption, make utility governance more transparent, strengthen
regulations, and increase public spending on energy infrastructure.
•
Redirect the US$21 billion spent on subsidies for loss-making utilities
and electricity consumption – which benefit mainly the rich – towards
connection subsidies and renewable energy investments that deliver
energy to the poor.
The
report also calls for strengthened international cooperation to close
Africa’s energy sector financing gap, estimated to be US$55 billion
annually to 2030, which includes US$35 billion for investments in plant,
transmission and distribution, and US$20 billion for the costs of
universal access.
A
global connectivity fund with a target of reaching an additional 600
million Africans by 2030 is needed to drive investment in on- and
off-grid energy provision. Aid donors and financial institutions should
do more to unlock private investment through risk guarantees and
mitigation finance.
Time to end ‘climate negotiating poker’
The
report challenges African governments and their international partners
to raise the level of ambition for the crucial climate summit in Paris
in December, and calls for wholesale reform of the fragmented,
under-resourced and ineffective climate financing system.
G20
countries should set a timetable for phasing out fossil fuel subsidies,
the report states, with a ban on exploration and production subsidies
by 2018. “Many rich country governments tell us they want a climate
deal. But at the same time billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money are
subsidising the discovery of new coal, oil and gas reserves,” Mr Annan
said. “They should be pricing carbon out of the market through taxation,
not subsiding a climate catastrophe.”
While
recognising recent improvements in the negotiating positions of the
European Union, the United States and China, the report says that
current proposals still fall far short of a credible deal for limiting
global warming to no more than 2˚C above pre-industrial levels. It
condemns Australia, Canada, Japan and Russia for effectively withdrawing
from constructive engagement on climate.
“By
hedging their bets and waiting for others to move first, some
governments are playing poker with the planet and future generations’
lives. This is not a moment for prevarication, short-term self-interest,
and constrained ambition, but for bold global leadership and decisive
action,” Mr Annan said.
Mr
Annan added, “Countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa
are emerging as front-runners in the global transition to low carbon
energy. Africa is well positioned to expand the power generation needed
to drive growth, deliver energy for all and play a leadership role in
the crucial climate change negotiations.”
Habari Zingine
Mjulishe Mwenzako
0 MAOINI :