The inaugural Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi comes ahead of a flurry of diplomatic meetings leading to the November COP28 climate summit in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, which will likely be dominated by clashing visions for the world's energy future.
The three-day event is billed as bringing together leaders from the 54-nation continent to define a shared vision of Africa's green development -- an ambitious aim in a politically and economically diverse region whose communities are among the most vulnerable to climate change.
"Delivering prosperity and wellbeing for Africa's growing population without pushing the world deeper into climate disaster is not an abstract proposition, or mere wishful thinking. It is a real possibility, proven by science," President William Ruto said in his opening address.
"The overarching theme... is the unparalleled opportunity that climate action represents for Africa," he said.
"For a very long time we have looked at this as a problem. It is time we flipped and looked at it from the other side," Ruto said.
"We must see in green growth not just a climate imperative but also a fountain of multi-billion-dollar economic opportunities that Africa and the world is primed to capitalise."
Africa, he said, had the potential to be entirely energy self-sufficient through renewable resources, noting that Kenya itself aimed to be "100 percent renewable" by 2030.
Ruto has said that the international community must help unblock financing for the continent of 1.4 billion people and ease the mounting debt burden on African countries.
Joseph Nganga, Ruto's appointee to head the summit, said the conference would demonstrate that "Africa is not just a victim but a dynamic continent with solutions for the world".
Security has been tightened and roads closed around the summit venue in central Nairobi, where the government says 30,000 people have registered to attend the event.
Civil society groups are expected to protest near the conference against what they call its "deeply compromised agenda" and focus on rich-nation interests.
- Daunting challenges -
A draft version of the final declaration seen by AFP puts the spotlight on Africa's vast renewable energy potential, young workforce and natural assets.
Those include 40 percent of global reserves of cobalt, manganese and platinum crucial for batteries and hydrogen fuel-cells.
But there are daunting challenges for a continent where hundreds of millions of people currently lack access to electricity.
Reminders of political instability in the region came last week, with a military takeover in Gabon little more than a month after a coup in Niger.
Countries in Africa are also hamstrung by mounting debt costs and a dearth of finance.
Despite hosting 60 percent of the world's best solar energy resources, Africa has roughly the same amount of installed capacity as Belgium, according to a commentary published last month by Ruto and the International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol.
Currently, only about three percent of energy investments worldwide are made in Africa.
Charra Tesfaye Terfassa from the think tank E3G said the summit should balance optimism with a tough assessment of the challenges to "chart a new path for Africa to be a key part of the global conversation and benefit from the opportunities of the transition".
The Nairobi meeting is expected to draw several African heads of state, UN head Antonio Guterres, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and other leaders.
Can Africa grasp its green-powered potential?
Nairobi (AFP) Sept 4, 2023 -
No continent has been hit harder by climate change than Africa, and yet none has more potential for a future centred on green energy, a top expert has told AFP in an interview.
The first African Climate Summit, which begins on Monday in Nairobi, is designed to showcase Africa as a potential powerhouse for renewables.
Despite steep challenges, the effort to define a shared African position on climate "gives us a lot of hope that things will change," said Mohamed Adow, director of the think tank Power Shift Africa and a prominent energy expert.
The interview has been edited for length and flow.
Q. How can Africa be a part of the solution to climate change?
We have incredible renewable energy potential. We have arable land that can feed Africa and a youthful population. We have immense critical mineral reserves that are essential for the global transition to clean energy. We have leaders who are now starting to step up. The opportunity is huge.
This is a continent that stands on the cusp of sweeping economic development. Whether this development is going to be powered by renewables, or by dirty fossil fuels will go a long way in determining how the world meets what was agreed (to limit global warming) in Paris in 2015.
Q. What do you think Africa needs to make that a reality?
If we truly want to realise the potential that clean energy resources provide, we have to invest in a pan-African industrial policy. Imagine a world where Africa was adding value to its raw materials and competing with China, or any other big economy, and exporting batteries, rather than exporting cobalt. There is a huge opportunity that we haven't grabbed yet.
If we don't have Africa developing its own strategic climate vision, it will be part of either the Chinese vision, the European vision, or the American vision. These big powers -- and the contests between them -- is where Africa usually gets caught.
If we extract ourselves and start thinking on our own terms, then we'll be at the table, and certainly not on the menu, as I believe we've been so far.
Q. How important is finance in these discussions?
For too long Global North countries have only wanted to focus on reducing emissions, and have given scant regard to dealing with the impact of their harmful fossil fuel burning. Africa, the continent least responsible for climate change, is also the most vulnerable, so mobilising the kind of commitments that will help this continent withstand the impacts of climate change is critical.
We must firstly get the developed world to honour their unfulfilled promises on climate finance of $100 billion a year.
But that sum is very small when you assess it against the real-world needs. The World Bank and the IMF must be reformed to ensure quicker flow of cash towards green, sustainable African-led infrastructural projects.
Addressing the African debt burden is also critical. Some of these countries are unable to tackle the effects of climate change as most of their revenue is going to debt repayment to wealthy countries that are also responsible for the climate crisis.
Q. What do you want to see coming from the African Climate Summit?
What we need to do is help build a vision that enables these countries to leapfrog dirty energy and become green leaders.
There is no reason for Africa to follow in the footsteps of the Western countries that have got us into this mess in the first place.
The only way for Africa to actually attain the kind of prosperity we desire is for us to chart a completely different path than the one that was pursued by the current developed countries. And that is the opportunity that we need to realise.
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