Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, the President-Designate of COP28, revealed a significant initiative by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to provide $4.5 billion in financing aimed at advancing clean energy in Africa. This announcement was made during the inaugural African Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.
The initiative is a collaborative effort involving UAE institutions such as the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Etihad Credit Insurance, Masdar, and AMEA Power. Africa50, an investment platform backed by African governments and the Africa Development Bank, has also joined this financing effort.
Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, who advocates tripling global renewable energy by 2030, emphasized the need for African leaders to enhance policy and regulatory frameworks to attract long-term investments in clean and renewable energy.
The initiative aims to address the significant energy deficit in sub-Saharan Africa, where 600 million people lack access to electricity. Despite the continent’s vast renewable energy potential, investment in African renewables currently represents only 2 per cent of the global total.
This financing initiative falls under the Etihad 7 development platform, launched by the UAE in 2022, with a goal to provide clean electricity to 100 million people in Africa by 2035. The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and Etihad Credit Insurance are spearheading this initiative by funding the initial investments to encourage private sector involvement.
The initiative seeks to bridge the gap in clean energy access, focusing on infrastructure development, generation, and distribution solutions to accelerate universal clean energy access in Africa.
