74
N. Kidunduhu
This especially rings true for countries in the African continent. Africa
has the lowest energy access rate in the world. The pressing energy
priority for countries in Africa is to widen access in order to meet their
social and economic development aspirations in line with the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7). In their efforts to
scale up energy access, it is has become imperative that African countries
take due consideration to climate change issues in keeping with SDG 13.
Although a large portion of African energy is produced from renewable sources, this may be outstripped following the recent oil, gas and
coal discoveries across the continent. These fossil fuel discoveries suggest
an increased volume of carbon emissions. The continent is thus faced
with the dilemma of choosing between capitalizing its fossil fuel reserves
for development purposes and constraining its carbon emission. This
chapter thus discusses Africa’s peculiar circumstances, resources and
needs as well as the factors that act as barriers to the energy transition
in Africa and offers suggestions on how to overcome the same.
This chapter is in five sections. This introduction lays the baseline
of the study by briefly discussing the genesis of the energy transition
and Paris targets. Section 3.2 analyses the energy landscapes of South
Africa, Kenya and Morocco. It looks at the characteristics of their energy
production, consumption and outlook and the challenges these pose
to the energy transition. Section 3.3 examines the actuality, dilemma
and hurdles African countries face in attaining sustainable development
within the meaning of the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement in
light of the continent’s future industrialization and urbanization plans
as well as the capitalization of recent fossil fuel discoveries. Section 3.4
then discusses viable strategies and solutions to the barriers identified
in Sects. 3.4 and 3.5 provides a conclusion and outlines the plausible
recommendations for Africa’s energy transition.
3.1.1 The Genesis of the Energy Transition
The clamour for clean energy stems from a long history of climate
activities dating back to 1979 when the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) convened the First World Climate Conference to
deliberate on global climate issues and particularly global warming. This
conference culminated in the establishment of the Intergovernmental
N. Kidunduhu
This especially rings true for countries in the African continent. Africa
has the lowest energy access rate in the world. The pressing energy
priority for countries in Africa is to widen access in order to meet their
social and economic development aspirations in line with the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7). In their efforts to
scale up energy access, it is has become imperative that African countries
take due consideration to climate change issues in keeping with SDG 13.
Although a large portion of African energy is produced from renewable sources, this may be outstripped following the recent oil, gas and
coal discoveries across the continent. These fossil fuel discoveries suggest
an increased volume of carbon emissions. The continent is thus faced
with the dilemma of choosing between capitalizing its fossil fuel reserves
for development purposes and constraining its carbon emission. This
chapter thus discusses Africa’s peculiar circumstances, resources and
needs as well as the factors that act as barriers to the energy transition
in Africa and offers suggestions on how to overcome the same.
This chapter is in five sections. This introduction lays the baseline
of the study by briefly discussing the genesis of the energy transition
and Paris targets. Section 3.2 analyses the energy landscapes of South
Africa, Kenya and Morocco. It looks at the characteristics of their energy
production, consumption and outlook and the challenges these pose
to the energy transition. Section 3.3 examines the actuality, dilemma
and hurdles African countries face in attaining sustainable development
within the meaning of the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement in
light of the continent’s future industrialization and urbanization plans
as well as the capitalization of recent fossil fuel discoveries. Section 3.4
then discusses viable strategies and solutions to the barriers identified
in Sects. 3.4 and 3.5 provides a conclusion and outlines the plausible
recommendations for Africa’s energy transition.
3.1.1 The Genesis of the Energy Transition
The clamour for clean energy stems from a long history of climate
activities dating back to 1979 when the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) convened the First World Climate Conference to
deliberate on global climate issues and particularly global warming. This
conference culminated in the establishment of the Intergovernmental