The World Bank’s Mission 300 should focus on renewables as the extraction and burning of gas is expensive would damage the environment and people’s health. Photo: IGUA-SA
Among the outcomes of the recent World Bank annual meetings in Washington, in the US, Mission 300 stood out for obvious reasons.
The initiative aspires to tackle Africa’s widespread energy poverty by promoting investment in infrastructure and regional integration.
If successfully implemented, this initiative, set to be signed at the Africa Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 28 January 2025, will slash energy poverty on the continent by half. About 300 million people stand to benefit.
A critical component of the plan, though, hinges on gas as a ‘‘transition fuel’’, which raises serious concerns for Africa’s energy sustainability and global climate commitments. The lack of in-depth public participation also threatens the credibility of this initiative.
Africa’s energy challenges require urgent and co-ordinated responses. While expanding access to energy is crucial, centering gas in this effort is counterproductive for several reasons.
Foremost, putting up gas infrastructure requires high upfront investment. This would not provide value for resources because such infrastructure would leave African countries with useless assets as the world transitions to renewable energy forms.
Second, gas exposes countries to the volatile global energy markets. But even more worryingly, extracting and burning gas poses grave environmental, climatic and health implications that could significantly undermine Africa’s long-term development goals.
Missing voices
The conspicuous absence of input from African communities and civil society organisations during the rollout of Mission 300 at the World Bank meetings was troubling. Without the active participation of representatives of the communities directly affected by energy policies, Mission 300 risks failing to secure the buy-in of the people.
Neglecting public participation is to overlook essential local insights and bypass the concerns of those most impacted by energy policies.
It is only through robust and meaningful public engagement and inclusion of community voices in the planning and execution that Mission 300 would be grounded on actual community energy realities, needs and concerns. This would help to create energy solutions that are truly sustainable, equitable and responsive to local needs.
Mission 300 — ambitious but misguided
For many countries that have battled acute energy poverty for decades, coming on board was an easy decision to make. Already, Rwanda, Mozambique, Côte d’Ivoire and Tanzania are leading the way by committing to transformative energy reforms.
The four have hit the ground running and are expanding grid connections, building decentralised mini-grids and setting ambitious targets for renewables and clean cooking solutions.
The energy compacts are a pivotal moment for Mission 300 to commit to renewables, rather than gas, and to embrace a sustainable energy future. These compacts require robust public engagement and clear commitments to realise sustainable energy solutions on a continent where 600 million people still live in the dark and cold.
Gas infrastructure is both capital-intensive and replete with risks. Nigeria and Senegal have incurred enormous costs developing gas pipelines, power plants and related infrastructure.
Over the years, these projects have diverted significant resources from renewable energy investments. Consequently, these countries are locked into fossil fuel dependency for the foreseeable future.
Like oil, gas prices are highly volatile on the global market, which creates the risk of economic instability for producer countries. With energy demand worldwide fast shifting toward renewables, African oil-producing nations risk being burdened with stranded assets.
Even with financial support from the World Bank and the African Development Bank, paying off loans made to put up gas infrastructure could be a financial burden.
While gas is often touted as “cleaner” than coal, it still contributes substantially to greenhouse gas emissions. Relying on gas undermines Africa’s commitment to climate resilience, especially considering the continent’s acute vulnerability to climate change-induced extreme weather events.
On a local level, increasing gas infrastructure fails to address one of the major health concerns in Africa today — indoor pollution. More than 70% of rural households on the continent rely on highly polluting fuels such as kerosene and firewood to heat and light their homes.
Consequently, the disease burden is staggering, with acute respiratory complications among the leading killers on the continent at 500 000 a year, according to the World Health Organisation. Expanding gas use without investing in cleaner cooking solutions, such as solar and biogas, perpetuates this exposure to harmful pollutants.
By investing in clean cooking options, however, Mission 300 could address these health concerns while helping to fight deforestation and climate change.
We have an opportunity to address this gap and to commit to a just and sustainable energy future when the energy compacts are formalised at the Africa Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam. Doing so will help to reinforce Africa’s role as a leader in the global energy transition.
The continent’s vast potential for renewables offers a cleaner and more resilient energy alternative to gas. The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Côte d’Ivoire have immense hydropower and solar potential. These and other African countries are already setting ambitious clean energy targets.
By redirecting its focus to renewables, Mission 300 would lay the foundation for affordable, sustainable energy that doesn’t compromise Africa’s environment and its socio-economic well-being.
Mission 300 cannot continue to impose a gas path on Africa as this would deprive the continent of a historic opportunity, avoiding the fossil fuel-driven trajectory of the past.
Sustainable energy isn’t just about connecting households to power. It is also about a fair, clean and inclusive transition. Only this will guarantee a sustainable future of growth, resilience and prosperity for Africans.
Dean Bhebhe is a senior just transitions and campaigns adviser at Power Shift Africa and Rajneesh Bhuee is an extractives and governance expert working with Recourse International.