The African Development Bank (AfDB) group has supported the incorporation of natural gas as a necessary component for Africa to supplement its renewable energy sources.
President of the bank, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, gave the support in an interview conducted outside of the COP 27 conference in Egypt.
He contended that the provision of adequate energy requires the use of natural gas,
Dr. Adesina said, “Africa must have natural gas to complement its renewable energy. Even if Africa were to triple its production of natural gas from current levels, its contribution to global emissions would only rise by 0.67 per cent.
“Natural gas is needed to balance out the electricity supply given the intermittent nature of renewables. We must recognise the special nature of Africa. Africa has the highest level of energy poverty in the world.
“My interest is how Africa uses natural gas as part of its energy mix to provide electricity for 600 million people today that don’t have access to electricity.”
The use of natural gas in Africa’s energy mix to provide electricity for the 600 million people who do not currently have access to, he said, picked his interest.
He noted that, using gas to supplement renewable energy sources shouldn’t be punished in Africa.
African nations can use their natural gas resources for domestic needs as well as to supply the European Union with energy, which is in short supply as a result of the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war which started in Q1 of 2002.
A pragmatic Path to Net Zero is the name of a whitepaper that the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) recently published on the road map for Africa’s development.
In order to support industrialisation, the white paper asserts that Africa must take advantage of its natural gas reserves, which it has in abundance.
It’s interesting that the European commission supports this viewpoint given that it recently designated natural gas as a green energy source and an essential transition fuel on the road to decarbonisation.
The AFC whitepaper also stated that using natural gas for industrial purposes is feasible without significantly increasing global carbon emissions.
African countries can increase their investments in renewable energy to complete the transition, given that industrialisation is necessary for the continent to guarantee job creation and economic growth.
