Renewable Energy for Africa: Implementing the COP28 Energy Package

This article was written as part of the COP29 event ‘Implementing the COP28 Energy Package: African Perspectives and Opportunities for SDG7,’ held on November 19, 2024, at the German Pavilion in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Africa’s rising energy needs, as well as the energy access, climate and development goals set by governments in the region, require that we more than double our annual energy investment to over $240 billion by 2030, with around three-quarters going to clean energy.

According to the 2023 Tracking SDG7 Report, global renewables-based power capacity is growing faster than at any time in the past three decades and is expected to increase by another two-and-a-half times by 2030 with current policies and market conditions. This would, however, not be sufficient to triple renewables’ share by 2030—an objective that more than 130 national governments committed to at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in 2023.

At COP28, parties agreed to triple renewable energy capacity globally and double the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030. They also pledged to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science (paragraph 28, CMA.5; COP28 energy package). Further, UN member states must also deliver to meet Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) to provide affordable and clean energy.

At COP29 in Baku, countries must build on what was achieved at COP28 and clarify what tripling renewables and transitioning away from fossil fuels means in practice. The COP28 energy package must therefore work towards achieving SDG7 to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. »Both these goals can be achieved through levers and enablers to ensure that [...] the climate goals and the energy goals of the state in the development field or Agenda 2030 can be reached, especially in Africa«, Peter Lyden (German Watch) states.

What does this mean for the African continent?

The African continentis home to more than 600 million people with no access to electricity and is one of the least electrified regions globally. Over half a billion people have no access to electrical power - more than the entire population of the US and Germany combined. At the same time, a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) concludes that the African continent has the potential to produce 1,000 times its anticipated energy needs from renewables and to completely replace all its fossil fuel exports.

Investment in renewable energy in Africa has strongly increased in the last two decades but still remains relatively low, especially when compared to other world regions. The continent has abundant hydro, solar, wind, geothermal and bioenergy resources. Nevertheless, Africa’s current energy generation mix continues to rely on fossil fuels, while renewable sources account for just under 18 per cent of electricity output. Could the continent’s renewable potential be a game-changer to overcome its energy poverty and generate development and the creation of decent jobs?

Over the last ten years, on average, African countries attracted less than 2 per cent of global climate financing for renewable energy. However, most of the infrastructure that is being built for renewables, especially solar, wind and geothermal, is not designed to supply the 600 million people without energy access, but primarily to export either electricity or green hydrogen to Europe, or to manufacture products for export     .    

To address the climate crisis, Africa needs to do more than decarbonise its industries and increase energy access. It also needs to leverage the surplus of clean and cheap electricity to unleash its potential, using economies of scale where large-scale energy production is achieved, at the same time reducing the cost per unit and allowing for efficiency and innovation to kick in.

The continent has all the strategic minerals needed for a real green industrial revolution, to create and use the building blocks required to achieve prosperity. Further, it has the capabilities to support this growth, as it is home the youngest labour force on the planet. What Africa does not have is access to the lifesaving technology that is available in Europe, the US, China, Japan and Australia, to generate and deploy the renewables at scale. Also missing is the political will and coherent strategy to replicate the entire value chain for generating renewable energy from a solar, wind or geothermal infrastructure, not in one particular country, but drawing on the complementarity of resources and capabilities distributed evenly across the entire continent.

Priorities to improve energy transition

The three biggest areas that Africa needs to tap into to improve energy access is transportation, clean cooking and energy infrastructure. Clean cooking alone addresses the needs of 950 million people - mostly women and children - who are inhaling toxic fumes on a daily basis across the continent. And in addressing clean cooking, you are addressing energy, health, deforestation, climate and gender justice. 

All of this is possible, but it requires political commitment, and not just at the national level. It has to be regional cooperation. It has to be South-South and South–North cooperation to unleash this potential to achieve a »zero-dollar« climate action plan.

Zero-dollar climate action plan?

While renewable energy infrastructure development requires financing, zero-cost energy and climate action plans leverage joint ventures and regional cooperation (South-South and South-North). Joint ventures with countries that have the technology and can contribute in-kind to replicate the value chain across the continent essentially eliminate the need for external financing. It is political will and cooperation that will allow us to unlock the continent’s full potential. This is not the only thing Africa needs for climate action, but it is also needed for genuine development and structural transformation, for the continent to finally move up from the bottom of the economic and geopolitical hierarchy.

Inclusive dialogue between government officials, energy and climate policy experts, development partners and civil society representatives is crucial. Such dialogue must explore what can be done in the real world, identify the challenges and the opportunities, as well as the actions that might even see Africa lead the global energy transition.

As a continent, Africa receives only 2 per cent of energy finance and yet it holds 60 per cent of renewable resources. Africa has the potential to play a key role in a new financial system that recognises the continent’s agency in implementing renewable energy pathways. Programmes such as the Africa Single Electricity Market (AfSEM) and its supporting Continental Power System Masterplan (CMP) can be used to unlock existing energy markets and improve related financing. Finance initiatives such as the Africa-EU Green Energy Initiative provide additional avenues for international cooperation and financial flows to improve renewable energy development on the continent. But financing energy transitions must also be just to break the debt cycles that developing countries often face.

What will get us there?

To support energy access and affordability, Africa must explore debt write-off strategies with countries in the Global North and set the right conditions for fair, just and equitable private financing. Communities need to be at the forefront of energy transitions to avoid reproducing the problematic systems driving these processes—what Africa needs is fair trade practices for its transition minerals.

Transitions will not only affect labour, they will also be labour driven. Leapfrogging towards equitable and affordable energy access not only addresses the lack of decent work on the continent, but also the quality of social protection mechanisms that energy and climate policy contain. Africa needs clean solutions for the whole community.

Lastly, Africa must tackle the corruption related to the climate finance it receives and improve finance traceability systems. It must also urge countries to divest from fossil fuels by pushing for stronger policy commitments at COP 29 and beyond.