Opinion: Africa’s development needs real energy solutions, not more gas

This year’s annual general meeting of the African Development Bank Group — held on the week of May 22 — came at a critical time in Africa. When the multilateral development banks, including AfDB, signed on to the Paris Agreement at COP 21 they made a commitment to act to limit temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This year's annual AfDB annual convening in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, the same location where the bank made the shocking announcement during last year’s 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference that gas will still play a huge role in the continent’s energy future, was a stark reminder of how far the bank was from meeting its commitment to deliver a green economy transition. The decision was a buildup of the controversial African Common Position on Energy Access and Transition proposed by a ministerial technical committee of the African Union, effectively laying the ground for further fossil fuel expansion on the continent. So far, the bank has failed to pronounce itself clearly on the issue of fossil fuels. The title of the African common position sounds marvelous. In essence, though, the position is devoid of any significant proposal to either expand renewable energy or to decentralize energy access. By explicitly stating that gas will continue to feature in the continent’s energy mix in the foreseeable future, it appears, instead, that the proposal represents the interests of the fossil fuel industry. End energy poverty on the continent in a manner that stimulates sustainable and equitable development. --— “Coal is the past, and renewable energy is the future.” These are the words of the African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina at a U.N. Climate Action Summit in 2019. Ironically, though, the bank has yet to implement a fossil fuel finance exclusion policy. Instead, the institution has committed to more gas developments across the continent. But it is the bank’s decision to limit civil society’s participation in its 2023 annual general meeting that is the sorest mockery to the continent’s energy transition efforts. Why is AfDB overlooking the oversight and advisory role of civil society in Africa’s affairs and its future? The lack of a strong civil society presence in its meetings is suspicious. Does the bank believe in the spirit of accountability and participatory governance? Civil society organizations play a vital role in representing the concerns and aspirations of communities affected by the bank’s projects. Excluding them and other stakeholders stifles the spirit of diversity and undermines the credibility of the decision-making process. During Glasgow’s COP 26, AfDB canceled a side event where African civil society groups were to present their demands, calling for an end to fossil fuel investments on the continent. Going forward, the bank must accommodate all voices to demonstrate that exclusion is not its modus operandi. If it maintains its stance on gas, AfDB’s annual general meeting risks turning its agenda into a fossil fallacy that keeps Africa entrapped in the dirty energy regime and poverty rather than transforming the continent through clean and affordable energy for shared prosperity and sustainability. It is critical that Africa cultivates increased investments in its abundant renewable energy wealth to accelerate worthwhile and equitable development. African governments and their development partners have a sacred responsibility to end energy poverty on the continent in a manner that stimulates sustainable and equitable development while making contributions to the fight against the climate crisis. Gas expansion in Africa does not foster local ownership and democratic control. It only puts Africa’s energy systems at risk of foreign ownership and direction. In Senegal, for instance, the majority stake in the first phase of the Sangomar oil and gas field is owned by Australian oil and gas giant Woodside. Woodside owns nearly 69% equity compared to Senegal’s state-owned oil company Petrosen which has just 18%. Even more astonishingly, Woodside will command a staggering 82% stake in the project’s second phase. The International Energy Agency has stated that there is no need ‘‘for investment in new fossil fuel supply’’ beyond projects that had already been committed as of 2021. IEA notes that there are no new oil and gas fields approved for development ‘‘in our pathway, and no new coal mines or mine extensions are required.’’ So, what is the point in this renewed pursuit of fossil fuels when scientific evidence notes that we do not need them for the safety of the planet? The ongoing climate emergency demands that Africa urgently shifts away from dependence on fossil fuel-based energy generation and transitions quickly toward a renewable energy future. With the climate crisis pummeling our people and planet, the just transition to renewable energy has never been more urgent and crucial. We need a transformative, people-led process involving a radical and rapid socioeconomic and political change to achieve energy democracy and to deliver renewable energy assets to the hands of people and communities across the continent. The message is clear: Don’t! Gas! Africa!