African countries will use climate talks at COP27 in Egypt next month to push for a common energy position that sees fossil fuels as necessary for expanding economies and providing access to electricity, the continent's top energy official said Tuesday.
The African position, criticised by environmental groups, could overshadow global climate talks in Sharm el-Sheikh seeking to build on the previous summit in Glasgow and achieve targets for rich-country funding to poor countries that fall far short of the promised $100bn.
"We recognise that some countries may have to use fossil fuels for the time being, but this is not a one-size-fits-all solution," said Amani Abou-Zeid, African Union (AU) Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy.
"This is not the time to exclude, but it is the time to adapt solutions to a context
Amani Abou-Zeid
An AU technical study involving 45 African countries on 16 June, seen by Reuters, stressed that oil and coal will play a "crucial role" in expanding access to modern energy in the short to medium term.
Alongside renewable sources, Africa also sees key roles for natural gas and nuclear power.
"Our ambition is to have fast growing, competitive and industrialised economies,"
said Abou-Zeid.
"AFRICA HAS WOKEN UP
Considered a renewable energy hub due to its vast solar, wind and hydrogen potential, Africa also has an estimated 600 million people in its sub-Saharan region living without electricity and nearly one billion citizens without access to clean energy for cooking.
However, critics point out that in African countries with large fossil fuel reserves, the revenues have mainly been used to feed the nests of corrupt political elites and have not helped alleviate general poverty or fuel poverty.
In Angola and Nigeria, Africa's main oil producers for decades, access to electricity in 2021 for the population was only 40% and 57%, respectively, according to the World Bank, and top producer Nigeria has the largest energy access deficit in the world.
Fast-growing Africa produces less than 4% of total global emissions and is seeking to monetise some of the biggest new oil and gas discoveries of the decade to help meet European demand after Russia's main supplier invaded Ukraine and subsequently cut off gas supplies to the EU economy.
"Africa has woken up and we are going to exploit our natural resources," said Ugandan Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu.
"There is no way to develop an economy, a society, without energy," said Omar Farouk Ibrahim, secretary general of the Organisation of African Petroleum Producers.
"We talk about coal, we talk about oil and we talk about gas. At the moment we don't discriminate," he told Reuters.
Outside the conference venue, the Cape Town Convention Centre, a handful of Extinction Rebellion activists poured a reddish oil mixture over their heads in protest.
"We think the fossil fuel industry is killing us," spokesperson Judy Scott-Goldman told reporters.