By Farai Shawn Matiashe recently in Nairobi, Kenya
Majority of renewable energy transition projects from sub-Saharan Africa submitted for financing collapse at development stages before assessment by financiers, an official has said.
“We will discuss how many of the projects that IRENA receives through its platforms cannot get to the next stage,” said Francesco La Camera, director general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), an intergovernmental organisation supporting countries in their transition to a sustainable energy, during an investment forum for the Accelerated Partnership for Renewables in Africa (APRA) in Nairobi on recently.
“For instance, in IRENA’s ETAF Platform, 55% of the projects received are from sub-Saharan Africa. However, most of the projects face challenges in business development stages, never reaching the stage when financiers can look at them.”
Energy Transition Accelerator Financing (ETAF) Platform, is an inclusive, multi-stakeholder climate finance platform managed by IRENA to advance the global energy transition in developing economies.
He revealed that IRENA’s data shows that 473 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity was added in 2023 globally meaning that 87% of newly installed capacity was renewable with only 13 percent for fossil fuels and nuclear combined.
“This is in line with trends since 2015. This is good progress, but we are also clear that markets alone cannot deliver the 2030 development and climate goals,” La Camera says.
“Additionally, the most worrying aspect is how uneven the deployment of renewables remains. Asia, Europe and North America accounted for almost 85% of global installed capacity at end-2023. Africa has accounted for only 1.6% of the global share of installed renewable power capacity.”
La Camera says in 2023 Sub-Saharan Africa energy-transition-related investment was 40 times less than the world average per capita.
The world is targeting to triple renewable energy by 2030 to reach more than 11000 GW to achieve 1.5°C.
But barriers that include lack of financing, poor infrastructure, economic crisis and corruption have been dragging Africa’s efforts to transition to renewable energy.
La Camera said to deliver on the promise of a sustainable development agenda and change the trajectory of climate change by 2030, markets alone cannot do it.
He said his organisation will use the World Bank Spring Meetings in April next year to catalyse further support, attract more stakeholders, and unlock greater funding to fuel Africa’s renewable energy ambitions.
APRA was founded by Kenya, Ethiopia, Namibia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi last year.
APRA, whose supporting partners are Denmark, Germany, UAE and US, aims to facilitate transition to renewable countries in the members’ countries.
