Good Governance Africa , sponsored by EnerGeo Alliance, presented an inclusive and dynamic discussion on the future of energy in Africa, in partnership with the. The webinar brought together key stakeholders, including policymakers, academics, industry leaders and civil society representatives, to engage in an open and constructive dialogue on solving the energy deficits across Africa.
“African countries need to be nimble to ensure an energy mix that is as clean and reliable as possible,” he said. Renewable energy costs are plummeting, and energy grids are becoming less centralised, but policies must be developed with a deep understanding of the trade-offs involved in transitioning to green energy; it is not an either-or situation, but one that involves many nuances.
Our oceans are changing and so is the way we use them. Across the globe, countries are turning to exclusive economic zones to advance their blue economies, such as Go Blue in Kenya and the EU’s Blue Growth, which are long-term strategies to support sustainable growth in the marine and maritime sectors. This is in response to the increase in ocean pressures such as pollution and unsustainable extraction.
Consultations are not always made with the 200 million Africans who fish for a living, both inland and on the coast, and local and indigenous knowledge is often overlooked. Policies must be inclusive — not just in name — and local communities must benefit financially from decisions made by big energy companies.Ngubevana said we must remember that there is an impact caused in harnessing solar and wind energy, but we often overlook the cost due to ideology.
Isaacs said there is a lot of unskilled labour in Africa, which creates problems when it comes to the energy transition. This is why we shouldn’t talk about a “just” transition — it’s not clear what justice actually looks like when all these issues are in play — a major overarching point is that there are not a lot of jobs for unskilled workers being created, and this is a serious problem.
Another member of the audience responded and told the farmer that he perhaps shouldn’t see things in such black and white terms, though she understood the sentiment. She said she was part of a study in Senegal and Ghana that investigated potential job creation in renewable energy. One topic that had not been brought up at the roundtable was that of political will, and whether governments would commit to what they said they would in the transition to renewables.