Why all of Africa deploys less solar power than the Netherlands
Global financial institutions are failing to do enough to help fund the energy transition in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, the head of the International Energy Agency warned in an interview with Semafor Africa.
Fatih Birol noted that overall solar-power deployment in the region was outstripped by that of the Netherlands, a country with a fraction of the landmass and far less sunlight, and that even though 40% of global solar-power potential was in sub-Saharan Africa, half of its people lacked electricity. But the cost of capital was between three and four times higher than richer countries.
“There is now a major role for the international financial institutions to de-risk those investments,” Birol said. “When we look at our efforts globally … the international financial institutions in Washington and beyond, in my view, they get very bad marks.”
Birol said that though clean-energy investments would outstrip fossil-fuel investments this year for the first time, overall annual spending on green energy infrastructure — currently projected to be $1.7 trillion — would need to increase fourfold, and that 80% of overall spending would need to be focused on developing countries.
“The advanced economies have two jobs to do,” he continued. “One, to do their homework domestically, but also help others, even for their own benefit — leave aside their historical responsibility.”
In particular, Birol said European countries had both a responsibility and an incentive to help their African counterparts grow their economies and shift to clean energy, warning of the potential of unrest and mass migration were it to fail to do so. “Europe has to make, in my view, more efforts to help Africa … access electricity,” he said. “If you are not able to do that, the consequences will be rather serious for European countries.”
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Birol’s remarks were the latest to pile pressure on organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Ahead of the two countries’ spring meetings in Washington, D.C., the IMF was?criticized by a developing-country task force?for making it harder for countries in need to tackle and adapt to climate change. And the World Bank has faced calls from economists, and its own shareholders, to?take on more risk?to allow it to dole out more money to developing countries to mitigate and address climate change.
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Projektmanager mit viel Erfahrung in komplexen Produkten, verteilter Entwicklung und internationaler Erfahrung.
1 年I can only partly follow the argumentation in the article. Financing terms surely play an important role and might not be in favor of African countries. But so does poor governance, lack of infra-structure, vested interests of ruling parties, etc., that makes solar projects in many places more risky and expensive than in the Netherlands. So the countries on the receiving side have to do some homework, too. I also cannot follow the argument that this would prevent "potential of unrest and mass migration". Affordable electricity is a necessary, but alone not a sufficient ingredient that people feel well in their country. As long as people perceive that they would be better off to migrate to another country, migration will exist, unless the differences are perceived to be very small and no longer beneficial for the individual. To achieve that is a true Herculian task.
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C-Suite Management Professional with Marketing, Media and Content Expertise
1 年.. and the fact that many electricity regulators are state owned, ergo protected. Everyone in Africa should be on Solar.. then problems like Eskom would not exist.