104
N. Kidunduhu
3.5 Conclusion
As seen in Sect. 3.3, African countries are faced with the dilemma of
whether to capitalize their newly discovered resources and develop their
economies or whether to abide by their commitments under the Paris
Agreements. Other factors that were observed that stand in the way
of the continent’s energy transition include; energy security—African
countries are impelled to continue depending on fossil fuels despite
increasingly utilizing renewable energy sources because of the need for
affordable, reliable, readily available and sufficient energy supply to meet
demand. Additionally, the transition calls for the replacement and retirement of carbon-intensive industries and infrastructure. The burden of
the aggregate impact of such action and its contagion effect on the wider
economy falls on the public balance sheet, which often is unable to bear
it. Africa also lacks the technical know-how and expertise required for the
deployment of clean energy systems and the ‘North–South technology
transfer envisioned by the Paris Agreement has been of no help. The
cost of research, development, resource mapping, collection of geospatial and economic information, exploration, installation, construction
and retooling of renewables and renewable clean energy systems is well
beyond the reach of many African countries, and the Financial Mechanism enshrined in the UNFCCC to assist developing countries in this
regard has been met with several operationalization challenges including
a lack of commitment by developed countries and contests on how the
fund is managed and how projects are approved. It was also observed
that the legal and regulatory framework of most African countries were
at cross purposes with their Paris Agreement objectives or were simply
not conducive for investment.
To surmount these hurdles, the chapter in Sect. 3.4 makes a number
of propositions outlined hereinafter. First, African countries should
embrace energy efficiency and energy conservation measures. Particularly, they should use education and training to create awareness of
low carbon consuming habits and lifestyles. They should also push for
technical actions in the energy sector and industries to improve energy
efficiency, thus resulting in reduced utilization of fossil fuels. Second,
African countries should look into ways of sustainably deploying fossil
N. Kidunduhu
3.5 Conclusion
As seen in Sect. 3.3, African countries are faced with the dilemma of
whether to capitalize their newly discovered resources and develop their
economies or whether to abide by their commitments under the Paris
Agreements. Other factors that were observed that stand in the way
of the continent’s energy transition include; energy security—African
countries are impelled to continue depending on fossil fuels despite
increasingly utilizing renewable energy sources because of the need for
affordable, reliable, readily available and sufficient energy supply to meet
demand. Additionally, the transition calls for the replacement and retirement of carbon-intensive industries and infrastructure. The burden of
the aggregate impact of such action and its contagion effect on the wider
economy falls on the public balance sheet, which often is unable to bear
it. Africa also lacks the technical know-how and expertise required for the
deployment of clean energy systems and the ‘North–South technology
transfer envisioned by the Paris Agreement has been of no help. The
cost of research, development, resource mapping, collection of geospatial and economic information, exploration, installation, construction
and retooling of renewables and renewable clean energy systems is well
beyond the reach of many African countries, and the Financial Mechanism enshrined in the UNFCCC to assist developing countries in this
regard has been met with several operationalization challenges including
a lack of commitment by developed countries and contests on how the
fund is managed and how projects are approved. It was also observed
that the legal and regulatory framework of most African countries were
at cross purposes with their Paris Agreement objectives or were simply
not conducive for investment.
To surmount these hurdles, the chapter in Sect. 3.4 makes a number
of propositions outlined hereinafter. First, African countries should
embrace energy efficiency and energy conservation measures. Particularly, they should use education and training to create awareness of
low carbon consuming habits and lifestyles. They should also push for
technical actions in the energy sector and industries to improve energy
efficiency, thus resulting in reduced utilization of fossil fuels. Second,
African countries should look into ways of sustainably deploying fossil