Africa Renewable Energy Initiative gets $10bn Support from G7 Nations

Africa Renewable Energy Initiative

To enable Africa produce 300 gigawatts of electricity by 2030, the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative has received 10 billion US dollars support from G7-countries.

This was disclosed by the President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, during an interview session with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday, Dec. 14th, 2015.

“In the last two weeks, we have worked hard, and have launched what is called the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative. This was launched just last week in Paris and it has already garnered 10 billion US dollars as support, from G7-countries. Our goal is to provide Africa with 300 gigawatts of electricity by 2030, from renewable sources – either wind, solar or geothermal.

“Africa contributes only four percent of global green house emission, but we suffer disproportionately in terms of the negative impact of climate change. The continent today loses over 50 billion dollars a year due to drought and flood, as a result of climate change. The Multi-Lateral Development Bank; AfDB, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Inter-American Development and European Investment Bank have put together, over 48 billion dollars to support our countries in terms of climate finance” he said.

Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina also said that the initiative was to ensure universal access to sufficient amount of clean, appropriate, and affordable energy, and aims to help Africa achieve sound and sustainable development.

According to him, Africa has no fewer than 640 million people living without electricity, while 700 million Africans, most of whom are women, lack access to clean cooking energy.

Stating explicitly that adaptation to global warming is a response to global warming, which seeks to reduce the vulnerability of social and biological systems to current climate change, Adesina, called on national governments in Africa to provide funding for climate adaptation.

He said it was unfortunate that Africa could only produce about 90 gigawatts of electricity in spite of its available potential. “Africa is tired of being in the dark, and the bank has taken the leadership in working with others to help light up and power Africa,” he said.

On agriculture, Adesina, stated that Africa has the potential to feed the whole world, and that all it needs to do is release its potential energy and convert it to dynamic energy. He also said that the AfDB would encourage African countries to take advantage of the business opportunities inherent in agriculture.“It makes no sense to be exporting raw materials, when we can add value to our produce, because when you export raw materials, you are exporting jobs and importing poverty. When you get agriculture right, you get macro-economic and fiscal stabilization right,” he stated.

On this note, he said that the AfDB is going to support countries all across to do what he called commercial financing and investment to go into agriculture.