Africa:

Africa Needs to Move Forward on Renewable Energy (Inter Press Service)

Adnan Z. Amin, Director-General of IRENA
believes that all African countries can reduce their
dependence on fossil fuels and leapfrog into a
sustainable future. Credit: Wambi Michael/IPS

Diversification of Africa’s electricity sources by embarking on renewable energy solutions – such as solar, wind, geothermal and hydro power – is being heralded as a solution to the continent’s energy poverty.

But although a number of countries are already reaping benefits from investment in renewables, there is concern that many of the countries are yet to exploit those resources.

African ministers and delegates at the IRENA Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi from January 19-22 noted that a mere handful of countries in the continent are tapping into renewable energy resource.

Davis Chirchir, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Energy said that despite the long-term benefits, many of the countries in the region lacked their own initial resources for investment in projects.

“While renewable projects are often cheaper, they tend to require up-front capital costs. So for many, we shall require more targeted financing if we are to kick off many from the ground,” said Chirchir.

“In Kenya, our investment in geothermal energy displaced some 65 percent of fossil fuels, and brought down the cost to the customer by about 30 percent,” he added.

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