VICTORIA FALLS, Aug. 27 (NewsDay Live) — Africa risks missing the goals of Agenda 2063 if it fails to address unaffordable energy, unreliable power supplies and the need for sustainable electricity, African Union (AU) Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Lerato Mataboge has warned. Presenting at the eighth meeting of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Regional […] The post AU warns energy crisis could derail Agenda 2063 appeared first on newsday .
VICTORIA FALLS, Aug. 27 (NewsDay Live) — Africa risks missing the goals of Agenda 2063 if it fails to address unaffordable energy, unreliable power supplies and the need for sustainable electricity, African Union (AU) Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Lerato Mataboge has warned.
Presenting at the eighth meeting of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Regional Committee for the African Region in Victoria Falls on Wednesday, Mataboge linked Africa’s energy challenges directly to the implementation of Agenda 2063.
“Our Agenda 2063 cannot be realised without affordable energy, without reliable and sustainable power,” she said.
“We cannot industrialise without energy, we cannot beneficiate our minerals without energy, and we cannot build competitive manufacturing, modern agriculture, digital economies or resilient cities without energy.”
Agenda 2063 is the AU’s long-term blueprint for transforming the continent into a prosperous, integrated and globally competitive economy.
Mataboge said expanding access to electricity should be viewed as the starting point for broader economic development.
“Electricity access, therefore, is not the end of our ambition. It is the beginning of economic transformation,” she said.
She expressed optimism about the role of the ISA, an international organisation that supports member states in expanding solar energy deployment as a means of improving energy access.
“I also commend the International Solar Alliance for the role it continues to play in mobilising cooperation, finance, technology and knowledge around solar energy,” Mataboge said.
“The value of this alliance will ultimately be measured by the speed with which the partnerships that we have established, and that they have established, translate into electricity for households, farms, schools, hospitals, mines, factories and businesses.”
She added that energy was central to Africa’s economic transformation.
“For the African Union Commission, energy is not simply one development sector among many. Energy is the infrastructure that makes development possible,” she said.
The AU is now in the second phase of Agenda 2063 implementation, with the second Ten-Year Implementation Plan expected to deliver tangible results across infrastructure, energy and other priority sectors.
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