Page 51 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 20

Leadership

Without extra and stable pow- ity 24 hours a day in all conditions
down to United Nations Climate er, we cannot build the factories can be re-tooled greener through
Change Conference (COP) begins,
they grow in volume and intensity. that will transform Africa from a carbon capture and the conversion
Recently, senior United Nations offi- low-job, extractives-led economy to of coal and heavy fuel oil power
cials raised the alarm of “world con- a high employment middle-income stations to biomass. We can bring
flict and chaos” and mass migrations forward new technologies such as
mini-hydro power plants which can
and institutional collapse should continent. Children cannot learn
greenhouse gas emissions remain for longer and better by battery operate and produce power day
unchecked for much longer. light any more than by candlelight. and night along shallow waterways
without damaging the aquatic life
No more than the Africa of today, on which local communities are
Mankind has a duty to act on these sustained.
dangers. But because of their seri- the Africa of tomorrow cannot
ousness we must not do so rashly. It advance using energy production
is an inconvenient truth, but energy that intermittently delivers. We can also invest in nuclear.
solutions proposed by those most MUHAMMADU BUHARI, Though not renewable it is carbon
eager to address the climate crisis PRESIDENT, FEDERAL neutral and capable of producing
baseload, constant electricity pro-
are fuel for the instability of which REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.
they warn. No more clearly can this duction on which sustained eco-
be seen than in Africa. nomic progress can be built. Nigeria
fashionable of modern energy tech- is among a handful of African coun-
For today’s 1.3 billion Africans, nologies, are flawed by their reliance tries exploring nuclear power, with a
research reactor already operational.
access to low-cost and reliable on back-up diesel generators or bat-
energy is the highest of all possible teries for when there is no wind for
concerns. Estimated to rise to 2.5 the turbines or sun for the panels. And we can also learn from our
billion by 2050—by 2100 Nige- friends in Europe and America who
ria alone is projected to have the It also seems unnoticed that in our do not always practice what they
preach. We call on them to lift the
second largest population on the global rush for electric cars we risk
planet—this “great doubling” (for replacing the last century’s scramble moratorium they have placed on
Nigeria, quadrupling) has the right for fossil fuels with a new global fossil fuel investments in Africa. Ni-
to more dependable electricity than race in lithium for batteries. Where geria has pledged to eliminate illegal
their forebears. significant deposits are to be found, gas flaring by 2030—a by-product
such as in Africa, this could endan- of our oil industry—and harness
Without extra and stable power, we ger geopolitical stability. This makes it for electricity production. Our
cannot build the factories that will the economic migrations the U.N. intention to end Nigeria’s single
transform Africa from a low-job, warned of more likely. We must greatest contribution to greenhouse
extractives-led economy to a high think carefully whether our dash to emissions may stall without it. Yet
there are no such limitations on
employment middle-income conti- terminate the use of fossil fuels so
nent. Children cannot learn for lon- swiftly is as wise as it sounds. investment in natural gas power in
ger and better by battery light any the West where it is considered a
more than by candlelight. No more There is no single “green bullet” transitional energy source.
than the Africa of today, the Africa that can be deployed either in Africa There is a deal to be done at
of tomorrow cannot advance using or the world that solves concerns
energy production that intermittent- of environmentalists while simulta- COP26, but none without the agree-
ly delivers. neously offering the power to fuel ment of the nations of Africa. The
hope of greater wealth and progress climate warnings we hear them. We

Yet in our rush to address climate for the extra 1 billion citizens of our live them. But no one has the right
to deny the advancement of our
concerns, and for western aid African future.
agencies and investors to burnish continent. Yet unless the developed
their green credentials, we rush to But there are certain things we can world wakes up, we run the risk of
install the most alternative of energy and must do—starting with transi- trying to fix the climate crisis with
sources which are often the most tioning to cleaner, but consistent, an energy crisis.
unreliable. Wind and solar, the most energy production. Fossil fuel power
generation that can provide electric-

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