
By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
The Executive Director of Sahara Group, Wale Ajibade, has said that Africa requires enabling energy policies, effective regulatory frameworks, as well as investments and collaboration in order to meet the growing energy needs of the continent.
Ajibade stated this while addressing top energy operators, regulators, and government officials at the 2023 African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA) Week in Cape Town recently.
The Sahara Group Boss, who delivered a paper titled: “Meeting Africa’s Growing Energy Requirements in the Evolving Global Landscape” at the event, observed that adequate policies were vital for African countries to address the concerns of foreign investors and limit investment risk exposures.
He also mentioned that the current level of global investments in renewable energy was not enough to enable Africa as a continent to embrace more alternative energy sources.
Ajibade added that, over the past two decades, global investment in renewable energy has grown rapidly but that less than three percent of these investments come to Africa. As a result, he maintained that Africa continues to receive only a small portion of the total global investment in renewable energy.