It is indeed true that the United Arab Emirates is ready to fund renewable projects in Africa to help people cater to their energy needs.
The UAE is leading a program to finance renewable energy projects in Africa to help countries on the continent meet their green energy needs and hasten their economic development.
The “Etihad 7” program will secure funding for green initiatives on the continent as it seeks to provide clean power to 100 million people by 2035, the UAE Media Office said in a tweet on Tuesday.
“Our two regions are inextricably linked, with enormous potential for further cooperation in the years to come,” Sheikh Shakhboot bin Nahyan, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said in a statement on the ministry’s website.
“One of the keys to unlocking that potential, supercharging Africa’s economies and allowing millions of people to contribute to building a prosperous continent is electricity, specifically, renewable energy.”
The UAE’s announcement for net-zero emissions by 2050 made it the first country in the Mena region to come up with a concrete climate commitment plan.
The Gulf country hosts a large African diaspora and is keen on building new partnerships based on historical ties with African nations.
A major area of interest is sustainability with a focus on renewable energy, Sheikh Shakhboot said last October before a five-day visit to Africa.
“The UAE is committed to partnering with sub-Saharan African nations to achieve sustainable development and promote the welfare of the larger region by advancing together in the field of renewable energy,” Sheikh Shakhboot said.
The Etihad 7 initiative aims to help African countries to meet their fast-growing energy needs without the corresponding surge in greenhouse gas emissions.
“The program facilitates sustainable development by solving key challenges that hinder clean and affordable energy in emerging markets,” he said.
The UAE already has several agreements in place with partners in sub-Saharan Africa under the Etihad 7 initiative to help them to pursue their clean energy and economic aims.
“Etihad 7 is a truly collaborative program, one that acknowledges and adapts to the needs and requirements of our partner nations,” Sheikh Shakhboot said.
Large parts of Africa have been left out of the energy transition, according to the Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena).
Only 2 percent of global investment in renewable energy in the last two decades was destined for Africa, with significant regional disparities, Irena said in a January 2022 report titled Renewable energy market analysis: Africa and its regions.
Less than 3 percent of jobs in the global renewables sector are in Africa. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the electrification rate was static at 46 percent in 2019, with 906 million people lacking access to clean cooking fuels and technology.
However, the continent has vast potential in wind, solar, hydroelectric, and geothermal energy, with falling costs increasingly bringing renewables within reach, the report said.
Central and Southern Africa have abundant mineral resources essential to the production of electric batteries, wind turbines and other low-carbon technology.
“Despite the difficult shift away from carbon-intensive energy sources, the energy transition – when accompanied by an appropriate policy basket – holds huge promise for Africa,” Irena said.
The energy transition under an Irena scenario, to cap the rise in global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, predicts a 6.4 percent increase to the gross domestic product by 2050 than that realized under current plans, it said.
Hence, this is how the UAE is planning to invest in this project.
