WEST AFRICA – In a strategic partnership, PwC Middle East has teamed up with Masdar, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company to launch a new report to reaffirm the importance of advancing the renewable energy transition in West Africa.
Dubbed ‘Accelerating Renewable Energy Investment in West Africa’, the report made its debut on the eve of COP28 during Abu Dhabi Finance Week.
Its core objective is twofold: to ensure affordable access to clean electricity across West Africa and to implore policymakers to grasp the indispensable financial investment needed for the region’s energy transition.
Presently, the region suffers from one of the lowest electrification rates, leaving an estimated 220 million people devoid of access to power.
This challenge is compounded by exorbitant electricity costs, ranking among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. With burgeoning population levels, the demand for energy services in Africa is poised for significant escalation.
The report’s key findings unveil a colossal untapped potential for renewable energy capacity in West Africa, estimated at 2,000 GW.
It underscores the pressing need for renewable energy-driven renewal and decarbonization in the region’s energy sector.
Additionally, the report emphasizes that embracing pro-investment policies, combined with renewable energy technologies, holds the potential to revolutionize the sector, meeting urgent socioeconomic needs.
It also highlights the instrumental role sovereign wealth funds could play in propelling investments into the region’s renewable energy sector.
Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar, stressed the urgency of accelerating climate finance into Africa’s renewables space to amplify its renewable capacity by 40 times by 2050, as proposed in the report.
He emphasized the critical need to mobilize diverse capital sources – public, private, and development funds – to unlock Africa’s extraordinary potential in renewable energy.
Al Ramahi added, ‘Masdar is poised to be a key catalyst in this endeavor, having already established a substantial footprint in Africa.
We extend our gratitude to PwC Middle East for joining forces with us to spotlight the West African renewable sector’s potential and the pivotal regulatory reforms necessary to spur investments.
Carlos Mendes, Capital Projects Partner at PwC Middle East, underscored the significance of their collaboration with Masdar in crafting a transformative paper.
He expressed hope that the report would serve as a linchpin for creating pathways to nurture renewable energy ecosystems in West Africa.
Mendes highlighted the region’s vast untapped potential in mitigating the energy deficit and expressed optimism that the paper would drive policy reforms, bolstering the feasibility of renewable energy projects in the region while reducing dependency on country risk ratings.
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