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OPINION

By George Musiime

Between the year 2020 and 2023, Africa’s share of the total world population went from 17.4% to 18.2%. A different statistical report by the Mo Ibrahim foundation estimates that the continent’s population will continue on this trajectory reaching about 39% of the total global population by the year 2100.

This report further predicts a boost in both potential continental labor force and market as some of the positive impacts of this growth in population however, it does not highlight the potential impact this trend might have on the global carbon footprint. This is probably because the trend has been changing over the past two decades, thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Under the flagship of BRI, China has undertaken major infrastructure development projects all across the continent and particularly in the Sub-Sahara African region. The infrastructure investment Initiative has also among other areas encompassed hydropower projects with several Hydroelectricity stations either completed, under construction or in the pipeline and are to commence in the near future.

In 2015, the IEEE found that a total of 636 Million Sub-Sahara Africans were living without electricity. This was also the primary reason why the African continent was and continues to be home to the world’s largest number of people facing challenges with clean energy sources. Moreover, in 2020, the International Energy Agency (IEA) found that up to 580 million Africans still lacked access to electricity and up to 900Million still relied on both inefficient and polluting fuel sources for their cooking. Furthermore, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) established that up to 90% of wood produced in sub-Sahara Africa was being used as fuel.

This continues to happen, notwithstanding the obvious certainty of serious sustainability challenges.This combination of limited access to electricity and heavy dependence on unclean and non-renewable energy sources continues to curtail Africa’s potential for socio-economic progress and hence keeping the affected population from reaching their prospects for prosperity.

As part of its commitment to the goal of shared prosperity for all, China has been at the forefront of the global revolution for renewable energy investing heavily in renewable and alternative green energy sources both at home and abroad. Understanding that Hydropower is the world’s oldest source of renewable energy, the IEEE notes with surprise how little attention it gets.

However, this is not true of China because as of today, four of the world’s seven largest hydropower stations, are in China including the three gorges dam, Baihetan, Xiluodu and Wudongde with a combined installed capacity of 62.66GW.

In the meantime, China has been investing heavily in renewable energy sources all across the continent. This line of investment is aimed at the largest infrastructure deficiency faced by the continent, which is in the power sector presenting in both generation capacity gaps and domestic user-access gaps.

Through the partnership with China, this infrastructural gap is being brought-down with billions in investments, electrifying millions of households and creation of thousands of jobs while unlocking the continent’s growth potential. For a continent that has previously accounted for only 6% of global energy consumption, this is a significant step. 

However, what is more breathtaking is that, as home to one-fifth of the world’s population, Africa has only accounted for 3% of global energy related CO₂.  Therefore, with the Belt and Road Initiative, Africa is starting on the right path of renewable energy witnessing an additional 690MW in wind, 225MW in solar and 10528MW in hydroelectric power sources over the last two decades. As such, China is not only powering Africa but also de-carbonizing the African energy sector in line with SDG7 on sustainable energy for all.

Between the years 2003 and 2023, China has invested more than $13Billion in power generation on the African continent adding more than 10GW in clean energy capacity to the continent. This alone will save millions of trees, increasing the planet’s capacity to suck CO₂ out of the atmosphere while cutting down by millions of tons the annual volume of CO₂ being pumped into the atmosphere at the same time.

The African continent is expected to continue on this trajectory towards clean energy. This propensity for the continent’s Energy mix growing in the direction of clean sources, will also keep the continent on track regarding SDG13 on climate action while Africa embarks on this journey of economic growth. 

George Musiime is a research fellow at the Sino-Uganda Research Centre