Africa-Press – Botswana. African Energy Week 2022 takes place on October 18-21 in Cape Town, South Africa, and focuses on uniting energy leaders and global investors for a dialogue about the future of the continent’s energy industry.
Participants have discussed the development of energy resources in the region, including nuclear power, on the second day of African Energy Week 2022 on Wednesday.
The former Prime Minister of Burkina Faso Lassina Zerbo said that Africa’s development is closely related to the increase in energy demand, and nuclear power is seen as an alternative of green energy for the continent.
Those present at the forum listened to the presentation by Sama Bilbao y Leon, director general of the World Nuclear Association, who dedicated her words to the future of nuclear power in Africa amid a period of big changes in the energy sector.
She further elaborated that nuclear energy is known to be the least harmful source, compared to other energy sources, in terms of carbon emissions, affecting clean air and water, land used for nuclear energy and its socioeconomic and biosphere impact.
Speaking of the importance of developing nuclear energy in Africa, the Executive Chairman of African Metals Group C. Derek Campbell argued that “nuclear power is where Africa needs to go”.
Campbell stated that nuclear power can “create enough baseload power, energy security, and jobs”. Additionally, he noted that the continent is able to “produce enough uranium and thorium for the whole world”.
Previously, African leaders have repeatedly called for the development of all energy sources available on the continent. Africa has over 600 million people with no access to electricity and around 900 million with no access to clean cooking.
OPEC Supports Africa’s Initiatives in Development of Own Energy Resources At the forum, the need to invest in the development of African resources was mentioned repeatedly.
President of OPEC and minister of Hydrocarbons of the Republic of Congo, Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua, indicated that African countries aim to ensure energy market stability not only for themselves, but for the whole world.
According to the African Energy Week’s press release, external factors, such as COVID-19 and the Russian military operation in Ukraine, created the conditions for increased cooperation between Africa and OPEC, with energy market stability being crucial for African oil producers, as their oil exports constitute a huge share to their GDP. In particular, OPEC played a key role for the two largest oil producers of sub-Saharan Africa, Angola and Nigeria, by conducting recent oil production cuts.
As for investments in green energy sources, Linus Mofor, senior environmental affairs officer at UNECA, reminded that only a small share of clean energy investment reaches Africa.
Meanwhile, a pilot for the Africa Energy Market Dashboard was kicked off by the African Energy Chamber and the United Nations Economic Commission on the second day of the forum.
Mofor indicated that African countries have “many climate and energy sector growth plans,” which can’t be implemented due to the lack of funds. In connection to this, he pledged that the Team Energy Africa, an informal coalition of investors keen on championing Africa’s energy transformation, will support investments from the private sector and get involved in commercial projects.
Another topic that was discussed during the second day was Africa’s mineral resources and their relevance to continent-wide business potential. According to the official Africa Energy Week release, the abundance of strategic metals, critical minerals and rare earth elements can stimulate the development of its large and small mining industries, thereby strengthening overall economic competitiveness and lead Africa to “inclusive energy transition”.
The African Energy Week takes place right after another similar event held in Moscow. During the Russian Energy Week last week, Sergey Gorkov, the head of geological exploration holding Rosgeo, said that his corporation is currently negotiating several oil and solid mineral contracts with African countries.
Gorkov pointed out that despite the political situation, Rosgeo “has not reduced the scope of work with African countries” and new mutual projects are underway.
Ambassador-at-large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Oleg Ozerov likewise said on the sidelines of the event that the Russian-African energy partnership will be among the key topics at the 2023 summit. In addition, Ozerov elaborated that Russia can be useful for Africa when it comes to building necessary energy equipment, such as oil refineries, and preparing qualified local staff.
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