(Ecofin Agency) – In launching the energy transition plan last week, the Nigerian federal authorities considered natural gas, a fossil fuel, as a transition energy on which they are also counting to ensure their energy security.
In an analysis released Monday, August 29, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Energy Agency report that overall public support for fossil fuels in 51 countries nearly doubled in 2021 to 697. $.2 billion, compared to $362.4 billion in 2020.
Among these 51 countries, 8 are African. These are South Africa, Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Libya and Nigeria.
According to the two organizations, the increase in energy prices, coupled with the rebound of the world economy, would be, among other things, at the origin of the rise in spending on fossil fuels, as well as subsidies granted by governments that aim to minimize the impact of rising fossil fuel prices on people.
OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said: We must adopt measures that protect consumers from the extreme impacts of changing market forces and geopolitics, in a way that helps us stay on the path to carbon neutrality and energy security and affordability. »
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said: ” Fossil fuel subsidies are a barrier to a more sustainable future, but the difficulty for governments to remove them is underscored in times of high and volatile fuel prices » et « that increased investment in clean energy technologies and infrastructure is the only sustainable solution to the current global energy crisis and the best way to reduce consumer exposure to high fuel costs ».
This observation raised by the analyzes of the OECD and the IEA is however not surprising as far as African countries are concerned, beyond the increase in prices. Indeed, the African Common Position on Energy Access and Just Energy Transition recently stated that the continent will continue to deploy all forms of its abundant energy resources to meet its energy demand.
The continent is indeed the least electrified in the world, with 570 million people without access to electricity in the sub-Saharan region alone. It should also be noted that African countries are struggling to access climate finance and funding intended to support renewable energy projects that would make it possible to do without renewable energies.
All this indicates that African climate commitments will be difficult to meet, given the social and economic realities that do not allow to do without the fossil resources available and in view of the lack of financing to support the large-scale deployment of renewable energies. clean.
Abdullah Diop
