Africa is richly blessed with fossil-based (crude oil) and renewable energy sources (wind, hydro power, geothermal, tidal wave, Biomass etc). However, a continued dependence on oil and gas along with traditional biomass combustion for energy will bring considerable social, economic and environmental constraints, in that it mostly causes depletion of the Ozone layer thereby making the environment unfriendly to its inhabitants in its harshness.
Combating today’s energy challenge in Africa requires a firm commitment to the accelerated use of modern renewable energy sources, which is clean and will therefore drastically reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and other such gases, thus finding a solution where renewable energy becomes considerably cheaper than non-renewable energy.
Economic growth, changing lifestyles, and the need for reliable modern energy access are expected to require energy supply to be at least doubled or tripled by 2030. Africa is richly endowed with renewable energy sources, and the time is right to incorporate a sustainable green environment through renewable energy resources in Africa, which requires finding the right policies and incentives and multi-stakeholder collaboration at home and abroad.
The campaign (SDG 7 & 13) undertaken by SGE initiative is targeted towards development of Countries in Africa, and advocates for a firm commitment to the accelerated use of modern renewable energy sources. There are lots of advantages in meeting up the challenge and here are some: Modern renewables can eliminate power shortages, inspire industries to grow, bring electricity and development opportunities to rural areas, create more jobs, create entrepreneurs and support the ongoing lifestyle changes across the continent, foster a cost-effective transformation to a more secure and sustainable power sector.