By Oforiwa Darko
The United Arab Emirates, the host of COP28 summit to be held in Dubai from November to December this year, has pledged $4.5bn in clean energy investments in Africa on the second day of the inaugural climate summit in Kenya.
Abu Dhabi’s clean-energy company, Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Etihad Credit Insurance, and Dubai-based renewable energy company AMEA Power will provide the funds. The consortium would help develop 15 gigawatts of clean power by 2030.
“The investment is expected to facilitate a pipeline of bankable clean energy projects within the African Continent”. Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Cop28 President-designate said.
Although access to energy has increased in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, it remains low, as more than 50% of the region’s population still lacks access to electricity. This low access to energy has implications on health, education, poverty reduction and sustainable development, says an UNCTAD report published on 21 March.
Lack of access to clean cooking fuels and technology is a major concern, especially for women and girls, who are disproportionately affected by household air pollution, which caused 700,000 deaths in Africa in 2019.
According to Dr Sultan Al Jaber, to reduce barriers to investment, countries must restore the financial sustainability of local utilities while modernising basic energy infrastructure.
“They should also clarify development processes, eliminate the red tape delaying market lead-time and eliminate restrictions to capital flows”.
The latest initiative falls under the UAE’s Etihad 7 programme, which aims to raise public and private sector funds to invest in the development of Africa’s renewable energy sector. It aims to achieve 20 gigawatts of capacity to supply 100 million people across the continent with clean electricity by 2035.
Meanwhile, the UAE Carbon Alliance pledged at the Landmark summit to purchase $450 million in African carbon credits by 2030, as it seeks to connect the high-integrity supply of African carbon credits to high demand from the Middle East.
