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Energy Challenges in Africa

workers maintain a thermal power station
workers maintain a thermal power station

The Energy Challenges in Africa research axis whithin Ifri's Sub-Saharan Africa Center adresses the exploitation of extractive natural resources on the African continent. It also covers the geopolitical stakes that derive from it, and the governance practices in this sector implemented by producing countries and by those about to become producing, such as East African States.

 

 

Alain ANTIL

Research FellowDirector of Ifri's Sub-Saharan Africa Center

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Benjamin AUGE

Associate Research Fellow, Sub-Saharan Africa Center / Center for Energy and Climate

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04/07/2023

North-South tensions are exacerbated at a time of unprecedented turmoil for both Europeans and Africans. European polycrises (geopolitical, energy-related and economic) echo the systematic vulnerability of Africans, which is reinforced by external shocks.

20/02/2023
By: Sa'eed HUSAINI

Nigerians will go to the polls on February 25 to elect a new president and members of the National Assembly. This marks the 7th in an unbroken sequence of presidential elections held since the country’s return to democracy in 1999. 

23/09/2022

After several decades of reforms, the situation in centralized power sectors has hardly changed. The sub-Saharan power sector remains underdeveloped, and power sectors are experiencing significant financial difficulties that have been further exacerbated first by the effects of the pandemic...

16/09/2022

Addressing remotely the 8th Japan-Africa TICAD Summit held in Tunis between August 27th and 28th, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged $30 billion in public and private contributions to the African continent over the course of the next three years. This is a quite a remarkable...

01/02/2022

2.6 billion people globally and 1 billion in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) cook using biomass fuel. The detrimental effects on the environment and public health, as well as the time and money lost are considerable. If nothing new is done, this situation will worsen further in SSA.

18/01/2022
By: Hugo LE PICARD, Matthieu TOULEMONT

The market for decentralized solar systems first developed in rural Africa, and today it is expanding to the continent’s cities, though these areas are already covered by each country’s central network.

25/06/2021

If sub-Saharan Africa followed the same model of economic development as the rest of the world, focused on the growth of carbon intensive industries, cities and infrastructures, it would seal the planet's climate future. Africa’s emissions today are among the lowest per capita in the world: 0...

11/06/2021

The sharp rebound in oil prices since the second half of 2020, to nearly $70 per barrel in May 2021, represents only a temporary respite for oil-dependent African economies that must change their economic model very quickly.

16/12/2020
By: Chris YELLAND

Energy and electricity policy, planning and regulation in South Africa has been slow and bureaucratic, lacking visionary leadership, and marred by uncertainty. Policy positions and actions taken have tended to be reactive, and driven more by crisis management than by forward-looking leadership...

31/08/2020

The vast gas discoveries in Mozambique, some 160 trillion cubic feet (4,530 billion cubic meters), will make this very poor country (6th lowest gross national income (GNI) per capita – the lowest in Africa) one of the world’s future major producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) within two...

24
Nov
2023
Friday 24 November 2023
from 09:00 to 16:30 - Conférences

As Africa experiences a paradigm shift in its global positioning, characterized by the rise of multiple regional and international actors, it becomes imperative to examine how traditional European powers, such as France and Germany, navigate this transformed landscape.

09
Feb
2022
Wednesday 09 February 2022
from 13:00 to 14:30 - Videoconferences

With the European Union (EU) - African Union (AU) summit due to take place on February 17-18, 2022, sub-Saharan Africa's sustainable development challenge has never been so pressing. Despite past progress in electrification, the number of people without access to electricity rose again in 2020...

30
Sep
2021
Thursday 30 September 2021
from 12:00 to 13:30 - Videoconferences

In 2030, half of the African population will be living in urban agglomerations. Rapid urban growth has been defined as major challenges, but also a potential opportunity for the continent’s socio-economic development. Creating inclusive, sustainable and resilient cities is one of the 17 United...

26
Jun
2020
Friday 26 June 2020
from 15:00 to 17:00 - Videoconferences

Affordable and reliable electricity access is a prerequisite for the development of sustainable cities in sub-Saharan Africa. Improving the financial and operational viability of the region’s power sectors is a prerequisite for the multiplication of solar projects. 

08
Nov
2018
Thursday 08 November 2018
from 09:00 to 17:30 - Seminars and Round-table Conferences

Despite its marginal contribution to the historical growth in greenhouse gas emissions, the African continent could be one of the most vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.

07
Jul
2016
Thursday 07 July 2016
from 09:30 to 11:00 - Seminars and Round-table Conferences

Access to electricity has proven a major impediment to economic growth in Africa. As an increasingly important investor in the region, what role has China played in tackling issues of energy poverty, and what can be done in the future?