By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
The African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA) has asked Africa to prioritize its energy security as a short-term goal, despite the push for energy transition.
At its event which is ongoing in Cape Town, South Africa, ARDA emphasized that unless something was urgently done to restore refineries across Africa and bridge electricity access, the planned energy transition may only remain an illusion.
It further warned that the growing population of the continent could expand energy needs and increase environmental and health problems.
ARDA also proposed the need to refine cleaner petroleum products and address the huge shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), as well as distribution and storage infrastructure.
This comes a year after the Russian
invasion of Ukraine, which has had multinational impacts, especially with respect to high product prices and increasing debt burden.
Multiple stakeholders, who met at a yearly conference organized by ARDA, expressed worries about the continent’s dormant refineries, aging storage and distribution infrastructure, gas-to-power challenges, and crude oil theft, among other challenges.