MOSCOW, Oct 14: Africa will need around US$2 trillion in investments in the development of green energy over the next decade, not the US$700 billion estimated by South Africa’s Standard Bank, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber NJ Ayuk said.
Earlier in the year, the Standard Bank group suggested that Africa would need over US$700 billion in investments during the upcoming ten years to develop renewables and mines to extract the metals required for the green energy transition.
“I think that these numbers of US$700 billion over the next decade is very low. You are going to need US$2 trillion because US$700 billion is needed to just meet the capacity to provide power and energy demand in mining. But who are the critical metals for? They are for wealthy Western countries for their green development. What about Africans, them having jobs, electricity, power, them having opportunities? We can’t just have reports that mean that Africa is going to continue to be an extractive ground to feed wealthy nations,” Ayuk said on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week in Moscow when asked to comment on the bank’s report.
There are also US$600 billion in global green bonds, with just 2 per cent of them going to Africa as of now, the chairman also said.
“At the African Energy Week, we are going to send a clear message to Russia, Europe, America, and Asia that demonisation of fossil fuels dies in Africa. We are not going to demonise the oil and gas industry. This demonisation is wrong and we are going to stay with our oil and gas producers. They are being attacked every day, but these people have created jobs, and driven manufacturing. We cannot accept demonisation, by this we create a more polarised environment that we cannot reach climate solutions with,” Ayuk added.
The African Energy Week will be held in Cape Town from October 16-20, with global and African energy stakeholders coming to the event. Africa’s energy security and investments in the energy sector are expected to be high on the agenda.
–BERNAMA-SPUTNIK