Africa Needs $2Tln in Green Investments Over Next Decade, African Energy Chamber Chairman Says
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Earlier in the year, the South Africa's Standard Bank group suggested that Africa would need over $700 billion in investments during the upcoming ten years to develop renewables and mines to extract the metals required for the green energy transition.
Africa will need around $2 trillion in investments in the development of green energy over the next decade, not the $700 billion estimated by the Standard Bank, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber NJ Ayuk told Sputnik.
"I think that these numbers of $700 billion over the next decade is very low. You are actually going to need $2 trillion, because $700 billion is needed to just meet the capacity to provide power and energy demand in mining. But who are there critical metals are for? They are for wealthy Western countries for their own green development. What about Africans, them having jobs, having electricity, power, them having opportunities? We can't just have reports that mean that Africa is going to continue to be an extractive ground to feed wealthy nations," Ayuk said on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week in Moscow, when asked to comment on the bank's report.
There are also $600 billion in global green bonds, with just 2% of them going to Africa as of now, the chairman also said.
"At the African Energy Week, we are going to send a clear message to Russia, Europe, America, Asia that demonization of fossil fuels dies in Africa. We are not going to demonize oil and gas industry. This demonization is wrong and we are going to stay with our oil and gas producers. They are being attacked every day, but these people have created jobs, driven manufacturing. We cannot accept demonization, by this we create a more polarized environment that we cannot reach climate solutions with," Ayuk added.
The African Energy Week will be held in Cape Town from October 16-20, with global and African energy stakeholders coming to the event. Africa's energy security and investments in the energy sector are expected to be high on the agenda.
