Forecasts from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) - the intergovernmental organization responsible for facilitating cooperation, advancing knowledge and promoting the adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy - indicate that with appropriate policies, regulation, governance and access to financial markets, renewable energy could account for up to 67% of electricity generation in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. The continent could also meet almost a quarter of its energy needs through the use of indigenous, clean and renewable energies by 2030.

The good news is that the case for clean energy in Africa has never been more compelling than it is today, with energy demand so high due to population growth, increasing urbanization , industrialization and trade, and climate change, among other factors.

United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

Mr. Adnan Amin, Director General of IRENA, says many countries in Africa are increasingly embracing renewable energy as a way to transition to a sustainable energy future.

“As a promising sign of things to come, several African countries have already managed to take the necessary steps to develop renewable energy, such as adopting supportive policies, promoting investments and regional collaboration,” Mr. Amin at the 9th session of the agency's Assembly, held in Abu Dhabi last year.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco and South Africa have shown strong commitment to accelerated use of renewable energy and are leading energy transition efforts, while some of Africa's smaller countries, including Cape Verde, Djibouti, Rwanda and Swaziland, have also set ambitious renewable energy targets. Other countries are following suit and renewable energy is on the rise across the continent.

For example, Africa has made great strides in developing its solar power markets in recent years, with the continent seeing growth of more than 1.8W in new solar installations, driven mainly by five countries: Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Namibia and Ghana.

Meanwhile, Mr. Daniel-Alexander Schroth, Acting Director for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency at the African Development Bank (AfDB), expressed confidence that things are on the right track and that renewable energy in Africa is experiencing accelerated growth.

"We've recently seen solar PV prices drop below $0.04, making it the cheapest form of power generation and the logical choice for additional capacity," Mr. Schroth at Africa Renewal.

Over the past few years, Africa's renewable energy solutions have proven to be economically viable, he says, underpinned by significant innovations in all technologies. In particular, the cost of electricity generated by utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) systems decreased by 82% between 2010 and 2019, while the trend is similar for wind projects, with a decrease of 50 to 60% between 2010 and 2019.

As a result, Africa's renewable energy mix has gradually shifted from traditional hydro and thermal power plants to renewable solutions, both to accelerate energy access and to support sustainable economic growth.

For example, more than a third of Morocco's electricity is already renewable, thanks to the Noor Quarzazate solar power plant, the largest concentrated solar park in the world.

A report by the International Renewable Energy Agency for 2019: “Scaling up Renewable Energy in Deployment in Africa,” noted that the continent is endowed with significant renewable energy resources, and has the potential to adopt innovative sustainable technologies and to play a leading role in global action to shape a sustainable energy future.

At the AfDB, Mr. Schroth says supporting project development activities from inception to full investment maturity is critical to increasing the number of bankable projects. It notes that it is also vital to mitigate risk to attract private investors by providing partial risk guarantees, and to increase the role of concessional investments such as blended debt and grant instruments.

“Above all, we need to mobilize capital markets and local financial institutions; create dedicated facilities to increase investment in renewable energy and offer technical assistance to national and regional institutions, regulators and utilities to create an enabling environment. and a harmonized regulatory framework," says Schroth.

The Facility for Energy Inclusion (EIF), incubated by the AfDB, is a good example of a program that can accelerate the deployment of renewable energy solutions, according to Schroth. It is an investment platform that operates through two dedicated funds created to provide debt financing to off-grid, mini-grid and small-scale on-grid renewable energy projects.

According to the International Energy Agency's 2020 report, renewables are set to take the lead in the global electricity sector.

Cost reduction and sustained policy support should support strong growth in renewables beyond 2022.

Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the fundamentals for the expansion of renewable energy have not changed. In Africa, renewable energy is expected to experience strong growth and account for nearly half of the growth in electricity generation in sub-Saharan regions of the continent by 2040.

Maximilian Jarrett, the head of the International Energy Agency's Africa program, told Africa Renewal that renewables are already cost-competitive, but he stressed the urgency of making them competitive with d other investments that people might want to make.

“We estimate that under favorable policy conditions, annual solar PV additions could reach an all-time high of 150 gigawatts (GW) by 2022 – an increase of almost 40% in just three years. economic opportunities focused on clean energy can directly or indirectly support renewable energy,” says Jarrett.

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Renewable transportation fuels, Jarrett notes, are a particular area of potential support, as the sector has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. More can and should be done.

Speaking last September at the launch of the Global Center on Adaptation in Africa, in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, Mr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), reiterated the commitment of the bank to promote renewable energy and called for a concerted effort to mobilize and close the financing gap.

The AfDB sees the growing share of variable renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, as an opportunity to invest in more flexible energy systems to ensure that variable renewable energy sources are seamlessly integrated. efficient and reliable. Battery storage systems are emerging as one of the potential solutions to increase system flexibility, due to their unique ability to absorb, retain and then quickly reinject electricity.

“It is clear that significant new investments are now essential to accelerate the growth of renewable energy in Africa, to ensure sufficient, affordable and reliable energy for all citizens and to foster inclusive, just and sustainable energy transitions. Governments can play a catalytic role by promoting and implementing policy interventions to enable this acceleration, which could be linked to related actions to strengthen energy security, increase infrastructure investment and promote growth green economy," he said.

Vera Songwe, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, says renewable energy offers the opportunity to provide access to energy for more than 70% of Africans who do not don't currently have access to it.

“The good news is that the case for clean energy in Africa has never been more compelling than it is today, with such high demand for energy due to population growth, increasing urbanization, industrialization and trade, and climate change, among other factors," said Ms. Songwe

According to Ms. Songwe, the learning curve for clean energy deployment in Africa is improving amid dramatic declines in the cost of renewable energy technologies, with transformative private sector investments in countries like Morocco, Kenya, Senegal and Zambia which have made it possible to obtain tariffs among the best in the world for solar photovoltaic.