L Hendricks: African Ministerial Conference on Hydropower and
Sustainable Development

6 March 2006

Programme Director
Representatives of the African Union and NEPAD,
Representatives of the Regional Economic Communities of Africa,
Representatives of AMCOW (African Ministerial Council of Water), AFREC and
FEMA,
Representatives from Civil Society, industry and government, and
Representatives from the UN, World Bank and donor countries
Ladies and gentlemen

Introduction

It is an honour for me to deliver this keynote address at the opening
session of this Conference on Hydropower and Sustainable Development. During
the first two days, delegates and officials will bring together their opinions,
views and knowledge after which we will be joined by over 30 Ministers from
other African countries.

In addition to officials from the water and energy sectors, we are joined by
representatives from sectors that form part of the six main themes of our
conference that of social, environment, economic, financial, natural resources
and human resources. I welcome all of you and look forward to your
deliberations on how we integrate all of these themes for the development of
our hydropower potential in Africa.

African Economic growth and energy

Programme director, at this very exciting occasion, I am proud of what we
are starting to achieve in Africa through our co-operation and through the
development of innovative ways to manage the scarce resources of our continent
to create a better life for our people.

It is increasingly becoming necessary for us to come together and
collectively solve the development challenges that face our continent.

If one considers the benefits that arise from access to energy cooking,
heating, lighting, water pumping, transport, job creation and more; as well as
the difficulties faced by the poor who spend a disproportionate amount of time,
effort and resources accessing energy services; we can see the need to expand
the coverage of energy provision throughout the continent.

Energy contributes to all three pillars of sustainable development
(economic, social and environmental) and plays a crucial role in helping to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Without a doubt energy is a key
driver of and contributor towards growth and development, and therefore needs
to be integrated into the development process early on, which requires
co-ordination between ministries, government departments, and countries.

Furthermore, an inadequate provision of energy has the potential to put a
brake on economic development and economic expansion. With the majority of
African countries achieving significantly faster levels of economic growth over
the past few years, the provision of sufficient energy is becoming a priority.
Consequently, African countries will need to review their integrated resource
plans and plan for new generation capacity to ensure that we do not run out of
excess electricity capacity. Firm decisions will need to be made on power
stations and energy sources which will be required in the next few years, be
they coal fired, open cycle gas turbine or renewable energy, such as hydropower
and solar energy.

Programme director, as energy is a key input into industry it plays a
critical role in Africa’s development process, and the cost of energy can
directly affect the competitiveness of enterprises. In making our decisions on
energy sources we must balance issues of cost and environment.

Renewable Energy

Ladies and Gentlemen, while energy is essential for economic growth and
social equity, is also associated with air pollution and other damage to health
and the environment. It has been argued that in the next 50 years the
constraints and challenges to the energy system over will not be due to
depletion of fossil fuel reserves, but rather to the environmental, social and
geopolitical issues raised by energy production and consumption patterns.

According to the International Energy Agency world energy consumption has
increased significantly since 1992, and forecasts indicate that it will
continue to increase at a rate of two per cent per year to 2020. There are some
improvements in the energy mix expected, such as increased use of natural gas,
a slowdown in the growth of coal consumption, and increased use of renewable
energy, which is projected to account for three percent of total energy use in
2020, compared to the current two per cent. However, the overall projected
increase in energy use to 2020 will result in increasing greenhouse gas
emissions and air pollution, unless major efforts are made to change the
trends.

Appropriate policies and measures that can promote sustainable production
and consumption of energy to support economic and social development in a most
efficient manner must be developed. Efforts to promote sustainable energy
include shifting from coal and oil to natural gas, developing renewable energy
sources and advanced fossil fuel technologies, and adopting more efficient
technologies. Many governments have introduced national policies to promote
renewable energy sources, including economic incentives, research and
development, improvement of institutional capabilities and innovative financing
and credit mechanisms. Several countries have adopted regulatory measures,
investment portfolio standards and non-fossil fuel obligations for electric
utilities to promote renewable energy. However, renewable energy use remains
low.

Significant progress has been made in developing and applying advanced
fossil fuel technologies toward the long term goal of near zero emissions of
air pollution, including greenhouse gases. The efficiency with which energy is
used in industrial production as well as in lighting, household appliances,
transportation, and heating and cooling of buildings has also improved.
However, these efficiency gains have been offset by increases in the volume of
production and consumption.

Measures to improve efficient production and use of energy for sustainable
development should be coupled with steps to enhance access to affordable
commercial energy. There are still over two billion people in developing
countries without access to modern energy, a number that has not been reduced
despite national grid expansions in recent decades. This challenge needs to be
addressed by means of a variety of innovative measures.

Hydropower

Ladies and gentlemen, the South African government felt it important to host
this conference on Hydropower so that we can start developing a plan of action
to harness the huge potential of hydropower that Africa has and contribute to
the provision of affordable, clean energy for Africans.

I believe it is the first time that Ministers of water and Ministers of
Energy on the continent of Africa will sit together and deliberation on this
issue. The water sector and the energy sector are two distinct sectors; and
hydropower, and the potential that it holds, is bringing us together. However,
the energy and the water sectors are not only linked by hydropower, indeed the
two sectors are closely linked as all forms of energy need water and have an
impact on water resources.

Programme director, Africa is lagging behind the rest of the world, both
with respect to the development of our energy resources and our water
resources. And due to the variation in climate in Africa, both within one year
and between years, we can not rely on run of rivers alone for water supply or
for hydropower supply. Storage dams will be required for this purpose, which
links the issues around hydropower to the debate on dams and development.

I am informed there has been an outcry by the green lobby against any
further development of storage dams. While such debates are important one needs
to consider the negative impact on Africa of not developing and managing our
water and energy resources; as well as the impact of increasing use of fossil
fuels for our energy needs.

Ladies and gentlemen, the way forward means looking beyond the technical
provision, taking people centred approach and balancing a number of social,
environmental and cost factors. The energy that is provided must meet people’s
needs. To understand these needs, communities must be given a voice in the
decision making process. Local capacity should be built so that people are able
to participate fully in decisions about what types of energy services are most
appropriate for them. Bottom-up participatory planning increases choices for
the poor. Lack of participatory planning can result in a lack of understanding
of the local context and situation, lack of institutional infrastructure to
regulate and deliver services, and lack of local capacity to install and
maintain systems.

A full menu of options should be considered for providing these services:
renewable energy sources, traditional biomass and fossil fuels, combined with
cleaner, more efficient energy as “one solution does not fit all”. Through
better management and regulation of the energy sector in Africa there should be
improved access to an increased choice of appropriate, affordable energy
services and increased efficiency of energy provision and use.

Conference Background

Ladies and gentlemen, before concluding I would like to restate the mandate
for this conference, which comes from the United Nations (UN) Symposium on
Hydropower and Sustainable Development that took place in July 2004 in Beijing.
The outputs of the event in Beijing encouraged an African conference on
hydropower. Government representatives of Cameroon, Ethiopia, Uganda, as well
as representatives of the African Union gave a clear indication in Beijing of
support to such an African conference.

I have been informed by the Substance Committee for this Conference that the
proposed objectives for this event is to find ways to unlock the hydropower
potential of Africa as a major energy option to promote sustainable
development; regional integration; and poverty eradication in Africa, in
support of New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

To achieve this objective, the conference will need to examine:
* The potential of hydropower to contribute to the objectives of NEPAD;
* The attributes of hydropower compared to other sources of energy in terms of
positive and negative impacts relating to environmental, social and economic
aspects;
* The impacts of water use for hydropower on other water uses and how
hydropower water use can be integrated in other water systems;
* How much hydropower resources have already been developed in Africa and what
potential remains for further development;
* The financial, human and technical resources that are needed to further
develop hydropower in Africa;
* Options for institutional arrangements for hydropower development in a
regional context;

The conference will also be looking at:
* Improving co-operation and co-ordination between Ministers of Energy,
Ministers of Water, and Ministers of Development Planning in African
countries.
* Developing a conference declaration on hydropower as a major source of
renewable energy for the sustainable development of Africa.
* Setting targets to implement the decisions of this Ministerial Conference;
and
* Exploring the possibility of an entity to carry forward the outcomes of the
Conference.

To conclude we recognise that the potential for hydropower has been limited
by a number of factors, be they political, financial, economic or
environmental. We strongly believe that we as Africans can, through
co-operation, overcome these challenges.

I hope this conference will open the door for greater co-operation between
our countries, and that over the next two days you are successful in your
deliberations. I look forward to hearing the outcomes of your deliberations
when they are tabled at the Ministerial meeting on Wednesday.

Thank you.

Issued by: Department of Minerals and Energy
6 March 2006