At the just concluded three-day Energy, Environment and Investment Forum (EEIF), notable world leaders took turns to give insight into various policy initiatives by key African countries toward addressing their energy crises.
The forum was hosted by the Rivers State Government to present to potential investors the country’s copious natural resources which could be harnessed so as to take the edge off the obvious energy crises.
The reaction of key stakeholders in the industry and notable former world leaders, mostly from Europe, indicated that Nigeria is yet to take action toward improving access to energy for her population.
Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, in his remark to declare the conference open clearly stated that the theme of the forum “Sustainable Energy: The Key To Africa’s World Integration” was a connection to the continuous search for a sustainable future because energy is the bond that connects economic, social and environmental development.
Amaechi said the forum was a launching pad for economic growth and would play a pivotal role in any attempt to achieve sustainable development and noted that it is indubitable that no country can fruitfully condense poverty without satisfactorily addressing its energy needs.
Responding to issues with regard to access to energy in Africa, the former president of Ghana, John Kufour, said many African countries are far-off from achieving the millennium development goal (MDG), an initiative that seeks to trim down poverty.
Kufour said a critical factor toward achieving the MDG objectives is access to energy which he said is deficient in Africa.
He disclosed that about 1.3 billion people world-wide do not have access to electricity despite the 2015 date set by the United Nations for the actualisation of the MDG goals.
But he said, however, that in sub Saharan Africa, only four out of about 30 countries in the region are on course in the provision of electricity and other aspects of the MDG goals.
Kufuor berated African countries for not doing enough to promote investment in the power sector and thereby denying many access to electricity.
The former president also noted that more than 2.7 billion people are forced to cope with using obsolete technologies and thereby trapped in the vicious circle of poverty.
According to him, “By 2008, in sub Saharan Africa, the average electrification process was at 28 per cent and in the rural areas the average was less than 12 per cent.”
But he said African countries could still synergise using the team spirit of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and in collaboration with foreign investors to harness the potentials of the grand inga hydroelectric project of the Congo river, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The dam is reportedly the largest proposed hydro power scheme which takes the centre stage in developing continent wide power scheme.
Kufour said the project is estimated to gulp some $80 billion and would be generating 40,000 mega watts of power when completed and would allow African industrial and manufacturing sectors to successfully take off.
In other words, the project has the potential to power an unprecedented era of industrialisation in Africa and even have electricity left over for potential export to Europe.
He further stated that if such project fully came on stream, it will be the biggest manifestation of Africa’s integration into the new and evolving world order of globalisation, but for the power sector to fully establish, authorities should also focus much energy on renewable energy investment such as hydro, geo-thermal, solar and bio energy as well as technologies that include energy efficiency.
He said Africa is richly blessed with abundant renewable energy resources and the continent should, therefore, seek to ensure that the provision of sustainable energy will underpin its development.
“Africa has tremendous water and river systems each of which should be considered a candidate for hydroelectric power development,” Kufuor advised.
Also in his presentation, the former prime minister of Spain, Jose Luis Zapatero, underscored the significance of making generous investment in the energy sector even though he made reference to Nigeria’s on going power sector reform which he said is progressively creating opportunities for private sector investment.
