Africa must keep ‘its lights on and plan own energy transition’

Africa must keep its lights on and plan its own energy transition, speakers at Africa Oil Week said as they discuss investing in Africa’s energy.

South African deputy president, Paul Mashatile, who was the keynote speaker, said Africa must set the terms and the time frames of its own energy transition.

“We recognise the need to reduce carbon emissions, but we are also committed to economic development. We often receive resources or money and we are told we need to transition within a certain period. We must say no to that. We must be able to look at our own needs and set our own time frames. As Africa, we must keep the lights on during the transition.”

He said developing Africa’s oil and gas resources must be an element of Africa’s energy transition. “Mineral resources are the currency that drives economic growth. Any conversation about developing Africa’s resources must come from the perspective of African nations for their own benefit. We must work to build synergies across our economy to address the stubborn poverty we see in our nations.”

Mashatile also said developing oil and gas resources could help many African nations achieve their UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 7 which refers to reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, Goal 8 – decent work and economic growth – and Goal 9, which relates to industry, innovation and infrastructure.

“Events like Africa Oil Week can advocate Africa to expand its energy sector with effective and sustainable carbon management techniques to ensure that the energy transition also leaves a legacy of socio-economic development.”

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Africa must put own people’s development first

Gwede Mantashe, minister of mineral resources and energy, also spoke at the conference and said while African countries acknowledge the need for an energy transition, there had to be an “African context” to the transition.

“When you have a situation where 600 million African people do not have access to electricity, we have to put our people’s development needs first. The energy transition cannot be an imported concept that does not apply to our African realities.”

He said larger economies were still commissioning dozens of coal-fired power stations every year, even while they embarked on an energy transition.

“South Africa is operating only 14 coal-fired power stations. A country like China commissioned dozens of new coal-fired power stations in 2022 alone.”

According to a recent report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air coal power capacity starting construction in China during 2022 was six times larger than the rest of the world combined.

“We cannot be told how to develop. Africa’s growth must be organic, original and African. We need to share ideas and engage on how to embrace the opportunities on the continent,” he said.

There was also a message of continental solidarity from a high-powered panel discussion before the conference that Africa’s energy transition must be managed in partnership with Africa’s energy stakeholders in a way that benefits all of its people.

This will require collaboration across the public and private sector, between financial institutions and between African governments.

The event was held under Chatham House rules which means that speakers cannot be quoted directly.

The frank discussion featured energy ministers from major African economies and leaders of financial institutions, as well as representatives of major private-sector energy organisations.

“By competing with each other, African nations become caught in a race to the bottom. We must break out of this pattern. Development is not a beauty contest. We must not compete. We must complement each other,” one of the keynote speakers said.

This Africa Oil Week pre-launch event featured an onstage panel discussion, as well as a series of breakaway roundtables involving an exclusive group of energy sector leaders and opinion-makers.

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Different transitions for different countries in Africa

Speakers noted that every African economy had different resources and therefore their energy transitions would look different. However, by collaborating on developing policy, African nations can achieve a goal shared by all African nations: the liberation of Africa’s people from energy poverty.

Another notable theme was the importance of natural gas as a transition fuel, with one of the speakers saying financing new developments was easier when projects involved gas and renewables, as opposed to the more established model of gas and oil.

“Capital follows sustainability but we must consider that Africa will take time to build a renewal energy portfolio. Therefore, there will remain a place for oil and gas for many years to come. Gas projects are far more attractive to investors when they are part of a wider energy mix involving renewables,” another speaker said.

Speakers also emphasised that African economies must build stability to attract the financing that is the lifeblood of all energy projects.