Natural gas key to Africa’s energy security, says AfDB’s Adesina

4th November 2021

By: Bloomberg

  

Font size: - +

Natural gas remains key to Africa’s energy security and economic prosperity, even as political pressure grows to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels, according to the continent’s biggest development bank.

“Gas is fundamental to Africa’s energy system,” African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Wednesday. “We’ve got to make sure that we’re pragmatic” and that a system is created to support long-term development, he said.

While natural gas is less polluting than other fossil fuels such as coal and oil, some environmentalists want to end its use because the industry is responsible for methane that has far more planet-warming power than carbon dioxide.

For African governments like Mozambique and Tanzania, where more than $50 billion-worth of gas projects are being discussed with companies including TotalEnergies and Equinor, it tops the development agenda. In Kenya where the national electricity grid is already 90% renewable, authorities are considering converting the remaining fossil-fuel power plants to use liquefied natural gas.

Even if Africa tripled its natural gas output, it would add under 1% to its less-than 3% contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, said Adesina. The world needs to “be fair to Africa” because the continent needs to industrialize and create jobs which requires a stable energy supply, he said.

ESKOM PLAN
The AfDB seeks to mobilize $25-billion, funding half of that itself, to support climate-change adaptation programs in Africa. The bank has financed renewable projects, including Africa’s single-biggest wind farm in northern Kenya, the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant in Morocco and is leading an initiative to plant trees and grasslands stretching 8 000 km across the Sahara and Sahel drylands.

The development bank has invested almost $5-billion in South Africa’s Eskom Holdings, which mostly burns coal to generate electricity. The utility estimates up to $35-billion will be needed over 15 years in order to make a transition to cleaner power sources.

“What is needed is financing on the table to allow them to make the investment that is necessary,” Adesina said, adding that the bank has been in discussions with the South African government about a plan. He declined to provide more detail.

Edited by Bloomberg

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION