Hendricks, at the African Ministerial Conference on Hydropower and Sustainable
Development, Sandton Convention Centre, South Africa
9 March 2006
Honourable Ministers from Africa
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Before I give my address I would like to express our condolences to the
government and the people of Uganda for the tragedy that befell their country
when the roof of a church collapsed killing 21 people, I give my condolences to
the families of the people who died in that tragic accident. I would also like
to pledge our support to the people of Malawi whose country has been severely
impacted by the recent torrential rain.
1. Introduction
Ladies and gentlemen, I am sure all of you will agree that this important
conference has been extremely valuable and a milestone for development of the
hydropower sector in Africa. I think all of us realised after the presentations
that were made and the issues raised in our deliberations, that hydropower will
not be successful if taken forward by one country alone, it can only be
successful through co-operation by the countries of Africa and through the
support of our strategic partners in this sector.
The honourable Ambassador from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in his
presentation gave an indication of the potential that hydropower holds for
powering Africa. With a possible 100 000 Mega Watts from DRC alone we could
achieve electrification of the entire continent and still have excess
capacity.
The challenges, however, were noted in that hydropower developments have
long lead times and require significant upfront capital investments. This,
ladies and gentlemen means that flexible financial terms are required.
We heard the commitments made by the World Bank and the African Development
Bank during session six that took place yesterday morning that they are ready
to fund large regional hydropower projects.
The private sector also indicated their willingness to invest in these
projects, and we all recognise the importance of crowding in private sector
investment in order to stimulate economic growth. The private sector did,
however, note the importance of African countries having a conducive
environment for investment, particularly noting the governance and regulatory
issues.
The private sector brings with it technologies that we might not otherwise
have available. We must however be cautious in how we interact with these
market players as well as developed countries that offer technology
support.
In working with the private sector on technology issues and in participating
in technology transfer programmes we must ensure that:
* Technology co-operation should be consistent with the development
priorities of our countries,
* Technology co-operation should form but one part of our interaction, there
must be co-operation and support for poverty alleviation programmes. The
example of having poverty and no electricity for communities that live along
side massive hydropower projects is clearly unacceptable.
* Our interactions should ensure capacity building of our regional structures,
local institutions and their personnel, so that we are able to increase
capacity in Africa for the long term management of these projects.
* Participatory approaches should be adopted to ensure that activities are
demand-driven and local or regional considerations are incorporated into
projects. The World Bank, among others, are well aware of the many development
projects have failed due to decisions taken in Europe or America that do not
take into account the beneficiaries or people affected by these large scale
developments. Due to the length of these investments it is often necessary for
consultations to be ongoing rather than once off at the beginning of the
project.
The representatives from civil society who participated in this conference
made some valuable inputs on the above issues.
2. Regional Presentations
Ladies and gentlemen, during the course of yesterday we received
presentations from all five regions in Africa. Some of the key issues that were
raised by the Ministers in these regional presentations and during our
deliberations include the following:
1. The Minister from Sudan who presented on behalf of North Africa
emphasised the importance of regional co-operation and interconnections. He
further noted that we have to ensure the achievement of the New Partnership for
Africaâs Development (NEPAD) and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for
hydropower projects.
2. The Minister from Ghana who presented on behalf of West Africa further
emphasised that small hydro projects and renewable energies, capacity building
and industrial development are also important and should become an integral
part of our strategies. And that single countries are unable to fund the high
capital costs of hydropower projects and therefore regional co-operation and
flexible funding options are needed.
3. The Minister from Uganda who presented on behalf of Eastern Africa noted
that their region is rife with poverty and environmental degradation. He urged
African countries to ensure that the political risks are reduced to ensure
private sector investment and that the risks will be reduced if legislation and
regulatory mechanisms are in place so that there could be certainty for
investors. The Minister further mentioned that sub-regional projects will
require the creation of institutional bodies between countries to steer
projects. Regional plans and system expansion plans as well as the
interconnection of power grids will be important. He indicated that the
financial institutions should provide a mixture of grants and loans. Cultural
beliefs should also be taken into account when hydropower projects are planned
and implemented.
4. The Minister from Congo (Brazzaville) and the Ambassador from DRC
presented on behalf of Central Africa; they highlighted the significant
potential of hydropower in that region, the need to bring in private companies
who are interested in investing and in establishing Public Private
Partnerships.
5. The Minister from Zambia who presented on behalf of Southern Africa
indicated that maintenance is a problem and the existing plants are not
performing optimally. Investment in new generation capacity did not take place
for the past 20 years and there has been no new development in the power sector
in Southern Africa during that period. He raised a concern that electricity
tariffs in the region are not high enough to attract investment and there is an
urgency now to build new power stations as capacity will start running out in
2007/08.
The Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry of South Africa who chaired some
of these session raised the need for countries to have national strategies but
these must also be evaluated at regular intervals. She also noted that these
strategies should fit into regional plans and that hydropower as a key source
of clean renewable energy must be put onto the agenda of the African Union
(AU).
3. Declaration
Programme Director have during the course of today been negotiating the
conference declaration and action plan. I would like to thank the valuable
inputs we received yesterday which allowed for the process to flow smoothly
this morning.
The issues raised by each region as well as the declaration and the action
plan gives us a very clear direction on what we as Ministers will have to do
now. We must all ensure that we make provision in our budgets for hydropower
projects in our regions. We must empower our regional bodies to start planning
so that regional projects can be done in an equitable, transparent and
sustainable manner.
4. Conclusion
To conclude, honourable ministers, ladies and gentlemen, a number of people
including our own Deputy President in her address last night raised the need
for action and to quote one of the presenters âwe are tired of hearing the word
âpotentialâ â it must become a reality now!â
I would like to thank everyone for attending this conference and for your
inputs. I look forward to continued collaboration between countries and between
regions so that we get power to the people as soon as possible and create a
better life for our people.
I thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Minerals and Energy
9 March 2006
