Remarks by the Honourable Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Mr Gwede Mantashe (MP), African Energy Week, CTICC
Programme Director, Your Excellencies,
President of the Republic of Namibia, H.E Hage Geingob President of the Republic of Senegal, H.E Macky Sall Honourable Ministers present here
Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane
Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber, Mr NJ Ayuk Secretary General of APPO, Dr Omar Farouk Ibrahim
Members of the Investment Community Distinguished Guests
Members of the Media
It is with a great sense of honour and privilege that I welcome you to South Africa and thank you for gracing us with your presence at this distinguished African Energy Week Conference.
I say it is distinguished because, unlike the many other energy conferences, this conference allows for critical and constructive conversations about the energy sector in detail rather than having polarised conversations about the diverse energy technologies.
Your sustained presence gives effect to the resolutions taken in previous Africa Energy Week conferences, at which we resolved to work together to eradicate energy poverty on the African continent, while on the other hand your participation strengthens Africa’s voice in the global energy debate.
Cognisant of the fact that 600 million people on the African continent do not have access to electricity, we firmly believe that an inclusive, diverse, and holistic approach to energy mix is central to achieving sustainable energy supply, while averting potential future disruptions. Enhanced cooperation among African nations is required to increase our efforts aimed at ensuring access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy for all in line with United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7.
Let us emerge from this conference with renewed commitment to working together to advance just energy transitions from high to low carbon emissions that are suitable to our respective national conditions and circumstances, rather than conceding to the standards that are set by the developed nations and imposed on the poor and developing nations, most of which are on the African continent.
Let us not neglect our developmental imperatives by destroying what we have in the hope that something new will be greater. Exercising energy sovereignty for African nations implies proving the resilience, reliability, and efficiency of the new energy technologies before unbundling the old technologies.
With an understanding that Africa’s energy growth and prosperity transcends the reliance on a single energy generation technology, increased investments in energy mix, as a key factor in the development of any economy, is a no regret option for Africa.
In recognition of the continued role of the fossil fuels in supporting energy security and the fact that 82% of energy sources in the world are from these fossil fuels, Africa must intensify its efforts aimed at developing its oil and gas sector in order to benefit from the expected increase of natural gas market in global supply.
The recent sizeable discoveries of oil in Namibia and Côte d'Ivoire, and gas in South Africa are proving to be a game changer and have intensified the need to step up exploration campaigns on the African continent. This is an opportunity for Africa to benefit from its endowment of these natural resources, as it is with critical minerals.
A binding constraint to Africa’s increased oil and gas exploration programme that this conference must help us find solutions to, is the weaponisation of climate change against development, at the centre of which are foreign funded Non- Governmental Organisations (NGOs). Our proposal to this conference is that Africa must unite, speak in one voice, and demand that these NGOs get registered and publicly declare their source of funding, as it is the case with political parties in South Africa. We cannot continue allowing these NGOs to have unlimited funding to block development on the African continent in the name of climate change.
In recognition of the critical role of minerals in the rapidly growing global clean energy sector and technologies, Africa must advance the need to maintain reliable, responsible, and sustainable supply of these minerals. Most importantly, we must undertake to exchange best practices and standards in the development and beneficiation of these minerals in the countries of origin as opposed to the pit-to-port approach to mining.
The increased investments in modern energy technologies such as solar, wind, hydro, and battery storage in countries such as South Africa, Egypt, and Mauritania are a testament to Africa’s commitment to promoting sustainable development of the energy sector. This is informed by our common belief that energy security, energy access and energy transitions are all important and need to be balanced.
Another important investment imperative for Africa to enhance the resilience of its energy systems is infrastructure, including refining and transmission capacity. A reality that we are faced with in South Africa is the unavailability of grid capacity or transmission lines to connect new energy capacity. Not only did we not allocate three thousand, two hundred megawatts of wind capacity under Bid Window 6 due to the unavailability of grid capacity, but we are also met by the same complication in the procurement of ten thousand megawatts of renewable energy under Bid Windows 7 and 8, and three thousand megawatts of gas-to-power.
Building an Africa We Want demands that we collectively tackle our energy challenges by working out a proper balance between dispatchable baseload and intermittent generation. We have observed a growing number of developed nations admitting that the intermittent nature of renewable energy demands baseload, hence some of them are reverting back to fossil fuels. As a developing continent, we cannot afford to commit the same mistakes, hence finding a balance between intermittent energy and baseload energy is vital to increasing security and improve stability in Africa’s energy supply.
Noting that access to low-cost finance is the key to sustainable development of the energy sector, we continue to urge progressive financial institutions such as the New Development Bank and many others to provide low cost and sustainable financing for sustainable energy projects, including Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Use (CCUS).
In closing, our Pan-Africanism must drive us towards the realisation of the “New Deal on Energy in Africa” that is people centred and guarantees continental economic growth, development, and industrialisation.
As African leaders, let us continue playing a collective role in the global energy debates given Africa’s endowment with natural resources.
I thank you.
