It has plenty of natural gas, sunshine and wind
are being rocked by an unprecedented double-whammy. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Europe has cut energy imports from Russia, the world’s second-largest producer of natural gas and third-largest oil producer. Prices of both shot up before falling back, but anxiety persists about energy security. Meanwhile climate change is prompting a deep but uncertain shift away fossil fuels such as oil and, eventually, gas.
The activity marks a sharp change in the prevailing mood over the past few decades, when Africa had dwindled in importance to energy markets. A continent that once provided a fifth of the world’s internationally-traded, now provides half that share. Its shares of global oil and coal production have also fallen as investors in oil, in particular, have been put off by deteriorating security in Nigeria, usually the continent’s biggest producer.
Africa has punched below its weight mainly because it has been hard to export green energy. Investments were made mainly for local consumption of electricity and even privately owned power producers often struggled to make money because they supplied small markets through inefficient state-owned utilities.
Africa’s strong solar and wind potential make it an attractive place to produce green hydrogen. A recent study by the European Investment Bank , the’s development bank, argues that Africa could produce 50m tonnes of the stuff a year by 2035 from three subregions: Egypt; Mauritania and Morocco; and Namibia and South Africa. About half of this could be for export.
For Africa to realise its energy potential it will need to dodge a series of pitfalls. The first danger is sloth. On natural gas, competitors such as Qatar and America are moving quickly to expand their production. If Africa is tardy its window of opportunity to supply Europe may close, particularly as demand shifts to greener sources of energy. Themay use 20% less gas than it did in 2021 based on current policies.
Firms and governments are also working to ensure that Africa’s natural gas is extracted in the most climate-friendly ways possible. Eni claims that its development and operation of the Baleine oil and gasfield in Ivory Coast will be the first in Africa to have net zero emissions .
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