The world was currently in the midst of an energy crisis. This affected countries differently, but it affected all countries. This was emphasized by the deputy executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA). Mary Burce Warlick in his keynote speech at the Africa Energy Week conference in Cape Town on Tuesday. After the Covid-19 pandemic, this had increased the pressure on the finances of African countries.
One consequence of this was that between 2019 and 2021, according to IEA data, the number of Africans with access to electricity had decreased by 4%, or 25 million people. This contrasted with the increase in electricity access recorded between 2013 and 2019. The energy crisis had also pushed up food prices.
He noted that IEA data also indicated that providing universal access to electricity in Africa would require an investment of $25 million annually. This would be equivalent to building a large liquefied natural gas plant per year.
Africa’s cheapest source of electricity was renewables. And within renewables, solar energy would be the main component, because it would be the cheapest option. Africa was also the best continent to deploy solar energy. Even so, a lot of investment would still need to be made.
Regarding Africa’s natural gas resources, he noted that if they were all tapped, they would increase Africa’s share of carbon emissions to just 3% of the global total. And gas could provide valuable additional energy, as well as contribute to decarbonization (natural gas produces fewer carbon emissions than other hydrocarbon fuels). Short-term projects would avoid the danger long-term projects face of coming online only to soon find themselves with shrinking markets.
Warlick further noted that Africa had many mineral and metal resources that could be exploited, as long as energy, environmental and social issues were addressed. Both in terms of African energy investments and climate action,”[t]theirs is, in our view, the critical decade,” he warned.
