By Bisola Adeyemo
The United Nations under-secretary-general and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Miss Vera Songwe, said in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal-7 target, Africa may be excluded due to inadequate investments in energy.
Songwe stated this in her presentation at a virtual ministerial meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, according to a statement on Wednesday, by the Communication Section of the ECA.
Environews reported that the SDG-7 is one of 17 SDGs established by the UN General Assembly in 2015. It aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
The ECA executive secretary noted that 600 million people in Africa do not have access to electricity and 900 million have no access to clean cooking fuel based on a report by the commission to the virtual meeting entitled: ”Energy prices in Africa: Transition towards clean energy for Africa’s industrialisation,” first made public on Tuesday.
According to the report, electricity access rates in 24 African countries were below 50 per cent, with Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia, having the biggest electricity access deficits on the continent.
She urged countries to ensure that there was cost-reflective pricing in the energy sector.
Similarly, Oliver Chinganya, Director, African Centre for Statistics (ACS) at the ECA, said that access to cheap and clean energy was an essential component of Africa’s transformation and industrialisation.
“In the context of AfCFTA’s deployment and implementation, supplying economies with affordable fuel is integral to supporting actions for faster achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and Africa’s Agenda 2063.
“Households use 86 per cent of biofuel and waste energy for cooking, while the transport sector consumes 78 per cent of oil. Natural gas is mainly used in the industrial sector,” Chinganya said.
In the same light, Anthony Mehlwana, an ECA Economic Affairs Officer, stressed the urgent need to invest in electricity infrastructure, diversify electricity supply and embrace modern renewables.
“Onshore wind costs $59 per MW while utility solar PV costs $79 per MW. Meanwhile, the cost of coal is $109 per MW and natural gas stands at $74 per MW,” he said.