Over 600 million people across Africa do not have access to electricity; this energy deficit contributes to debilitating economic realities—lowered productivity and higher costs of living.
Despite contributing among the least to greenhouse gas emissions, African countries will not be shielded from the impacts of climate change. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that heatwaves, droughts and floods are expected to worsen in the coming decade. Governments agree that we need to reduce global emissions from 50 billion tonnes per year to net-zero by 2050. Nonetheless, the global economy remains dependent on fossil fuels for most of its energy, a third of which comes from crude oil. The US Environmental Information Administration projects a 50 per cent increase in global energy consumption by 2050, which does not align with the media’s push for a transition from total dependence on fossil fuels to the widespread adoption of renewable sources or Green Energy.
A 2015 McKinsey energy study showed that countries with electrification rates for less than 80 per cent of their population generally suffer reduced GDP per capita. Furthermore, the study suggests that even though countries like Angola or Gabon have vast natural resources, people’s access to energy (electricity) and the infrastructure to consume said energy are the main indicators to how well the power sector is supporting economic development.
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