Africa Needs $2.6trn To Address Energy Poverty

A new PwC report has projected that African continent would need to inject about $2.6 trillion to drive energy transition and come to meeting its energy demand, following rising energy poverty ravaging Africa.

The PwC’s Africa Energy Review 2022 suggest the continent is not on track to achieve its energy ambitions. The newly released report outlines the objectives and pressures facing Africa’s energy sector.

Despite energy playing a pivotal role to the growth of the modern economy, the Africa Energy Review 2022, suggests that nearly one billion of Africans lack access to clean, sustainable and affordable energy.

The review found that the shortage of electricity in African countries is equivalent to 1 per cent of the global average.

To bring Africa up to the world average for electricity access, and to meet decarbonisation commitments as well as to bridge the energy poverty gap, PwC estimates that Africa would need to arrange for an additional 2,354GW of renewable generation by 2050.

According to the researchers, this is an increase of nearly forty times the current installed renewables capacity of 59GW, estimating that, it will cost Africa roughly $2.6 trillion, which is approximately the current size of Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The report enumerates various factors contributing to a rapidly changing global landscape including climate change policy pressure, geo-political tensions such as the Ukraine conflict, societal changes triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and a greater awareness of planetary boundaries and social justice.