African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Dr Amani Abou-Zeid addressed the International Vienna Energy and Climate Forum (IVECF) which brought together thousands of delegates in the Austrian capital to discuss solutions to promote green industrialization and establishing sustainable value chains for low carbon technologies. The forum took place 2-3 November 2023.
Speaking at the high-level plenary session “Solutions for Advancing Green Industrialization and Sustainable Value Chains”, Commissioner Abou-Zeid highlighted that Africa is perusing sustainable energy development trajectory mentioning that the continent is already generating 45% of its energy through renewables.
“Switching to renewable energy in Africa was made out of the necessity to achieve energy self-sufficiency and to face the devastating effects of climate change”. Despite being in the front-line of the dire consequences of climate change, the continent only receives about 2%-3% of global climate finance, a situation Commissioner Abou-Zeid blames on unfair interest rates inflicted on the Africa.
African countries embrace and absorb new technologies and adapt efficiently to unpredicted circumstances as demonstrated during the Covid-19 pandemic, where Africa reacted quickly and set an example in efforts to digitalise the economy to cope with the impacts of pandemic. “Africa has the opportunity to leapfrog outdated energy infrastructure and adopt modern, sustainable and smart technologies directly”, observed Commissioner Abou-Zeid stressing the importance to rethink partnerships to create “frameworks and initiatives to encourage technology innovation and transfer, technical cooperation and reforms to the international financial architecture”.
The demand for critical minerals—essential for clean energy technologies—has increased to an unprecedented level and is projected to rise further in the coming decades. She noted the criticality of rethinking the entire supply chain away from an exclusively export-oriented focus. “Creating a manufacturing base for energy equipment and systems in Africa will be important in reducing costs and production at scale and will add value to the local supply” said Commissioner Abou-Zeid.
Commissioner Abou-Zeid met with Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) Mr. Gerhard Müller on the side-lines of the Forum. They expressed the need to work together to support green technologies and to focus on more added value in Africa.
Commissioner Abou-Zeid noted that green industrialisation is still in its nascent stage on the Continent and that there is ample room for opportunity to cooperate in various fields such as solar panels, green hydrogen, wind turbines, geothermal energy and other green and renewable technologies. She identified the local production of batteries as a perfect starting point for further cooperation between AU and UNIDO: “Prioritising local battery production means starting with the low hanging fruit and will open the doors to cooperation in many other related sectors such as storage” said Commissioner Abou-Zeid during the meeting. The African Union can benefit from UNIDO technical expertise to formulate a harmonized policy approach on batteries on the continental level.
Both parties also discussed ways to encourage local investment in renewable technologies, cooperation during upcoming COP28 and potential drafting of a joint memo on possible areas of collaboration.
For media inquiries, please contact:
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Molalet Tsedeke| Directorate of Information and Communication| African Union Commission |mobile+251 (0) 911630631| E-mail: MolalettT@africa-union.org|
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Bezayit Eyoel| Department of Infrastructure and Energy| African Union Commission| Mobile: +251913223288 | E-mail: BezayitE@africa-union.org|
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