G20 South Africa: New legacy project to combat "crippling" energy inefficiencies

Image credit: Mohamed Fsili on Unsplash

Graham-Maré noted that energy inefficiencies in Africa have reached levels of up to 60% in some areas – leaving millions of people completely without access to electricity and others without clean cooking solutions.

Fuel first

“The Africa Energy Efficiency Facility is a response to this urgent need.

"AfEEF is envisaged to serve as a continental platform to: mobilise finance at scale, with a target of $3bn by 2030; support member states to harmonise energy efficiency policies and regulations; build technical capacity across our regions and institutions; and promote digitalisation and innovation through systems such as energy management and appliance databases.

“Energy efficiency is our ‘first fuel’. It is the fastest, cheapest, and most sustainable way to close the gap between energy demand and supply.

"It is not simply about saving energy, it is about creating opportunities for growth, jobs, and better lives for all,” she said.

Graham-Maré explained that the AfEEF has the potential to:

• Improve efficiency by at least 12% by 2030.
  
• Create some one million ‘green’ jobs by 2040.
  
• Avoid the need for up to 40 gigawatts of new generation capacity, saving billions in investment.
  
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 300 million tonnes of CO₂.

“This is not just a technical problem. It is a human rights problem. It affects the health of our children, the productivity of our industries, the education of our youth, and the dignity of our households.

“Without addressing these inefficiencies, we cannot hope to unlock Africa’s full potential,” the deputy minister said.

The AfEEF is a collaboration initiative between the department, the African Union Commission through the African Energy Commission (AFREC), and the United Nations Environment Programme.

The foundations of the initiative were laid at the second and third ETWG meetings held in the Western Cape and North West earlier this year.

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Africa’s unity and resolve

The programme is aligned to the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the African Energy Efficiency Strategy and directly responds to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 7 and 13, focusing on energy access and climate action.

“Its value lies in the symbolism of Africa’s unity and resolve.

"It signals to our citizens, our partners, and the world that Africa is ready to take charge of its energy future and that we are prepared to act together, decisively and ambitiously.

“But…a facility is only as strong as the partnerships that sustain it. I therefore call upon: our AU Member States, to embrace AfEEF and integrate its objectives into national strategies; our development partners and financial institutions, to walk with us, to invest, and to share knowledge; our private sector actors, to seize the opportunities in building markets, delivering technologies, and creating jobs; and our civil society and academia, to help ensure accountability, inclusivity, and innovation.

“Together, let us make the AfEEF idea not just an initiative, but a movement. A movement that lights up homes, powers industries, and gives our children a cleaner, safer, more prosperous Africa,” Graham-Maré said.

She emphasised that energy efficiency is “not a technical choice; it is a human imperative”.

“It is about the mother who should not cook over smoky firewood, the student who deserves light to study at night, and the entrepreneur who needs reliable power to grow a business.

“The Africa Energy Efficiency Facility concept is our promise to them. A promise that we will not stand still while millions remain in the dark. A promise that we will unlock Africa’s energy productivity, not tomorrow, but today,” Graham-Maré said.