As this year’s World Economic Forum on Africa came to a close on Friday in South Africa – the host of the next United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP) in November-an overarching thread emerged for Africa to enhance economic growth in an integrated, sustainable, job-growing fashion: diversify its energy portfolio to include more energy from renewable sources.
This was clear when South African Minister for Energy, Dipuo Peters, announced in her keynote address that the recently passed Integrated Resource Plan contains provisions for 42 percent of South Africa’s energy to come from renewables.
At the same time, it is clear that similar to the United States, coal is the main source of energy. To throw another wrench in the issue, lack of jobs and job-growth are major concerns facing industries in Africa, and any new development in energy will need a substantial job-providing element attached to it to ensure success. This balancing act is recognized optimistically in a blog post by Silas Zimu, CEO of Suzlon Energy in South Africa, where he discusses his view on the “precious balance” between “Energy, Economy, Environment and Expectations.” This challenge has inspired Zimu to go in the direction of wind power saying he has made it a personal goal to take advantage of South Africa’s 30,000 MW of untapped wind energy potential.
And, in terms of job growth, Zimu cites a recent Greenpeace Africa report stating that development in renewables for Africa could create 78,000 South African jobs in the near future. Zimu’s optimism combined with Peters’s new provisions for renewable energy could be a sign of good things to come for the renewables market in South Africa.
Similar themes emerged during the session on green growth where both business and government representatives discussed the urgency for Africa to build a green economy and not to rely on cheap, “dirty” energy alternatives. In addition to development in renewable energy, there were discussions on the foundations needed for green investment and development in Africa’s agriculture and manufacturing industries. Part of this discussion included how to best use Africa’s still undetermined allotment of the $100 billion Green Climate Fund to meet climate change targets and make the switch to clean energy. The agreement decided that funds should be used to attract more input from private investors, as we have said previously.
The two sessions on New Energy Architecture and Green Growth highlighted some other key points to keep in mind in order for Africa to gain a significant voice in the next COP and to succeed with further clean energy investments throughout the continent:
1) The Copenhagen Accord calls for a global fund of $ 100 billion per year by 2020 to meet climate change targets. Africa will need a significant portion of that funding. It will only be enough if public money can leverage significant private money.
2) At Copenhagen, Africa spoke with one voice on many issues. It must do the same at COP 17 in Durban to aggressively move from vision to action.
3) Regional collaboration is key in narrowing the policy deficit that hampers the investment required to maximize green growth opportunities in the agricultural, energy, and manufacturing sectors.
4) Green growth projects must be made bankable. This requires work by public and private institutions to build confidence in the value chain.
5) A viable and stable political environment is fundamental to encouraging private companies or individuals to commit to renewable energy such as solar photovoltaic.
6) The continent has no choice but to take the renewable sources route, though fossil fuel generation will remain dominant for some years.
7) Coal underpins the security of the power supply for southern Africa.
