Kenya is making significant progress towards achieving its mission of producing clean energy by harnessing power from geothermal, hydro plants, wind turbines, and solar.
As a result, it has been ranked 46th globally on the Energy Transition Index (ETI), scoring 57.8 points. Other African countries following closely behind include Morocco (55.6), Namibia (55.1), Mauritius (55), and Cote D’Ivoire (53.1), in that order.
In a report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the 2023 WEF report, performances of up to 120 countries globally were measured as per the Energy Transition Index (ETI) between 2014 and 2023.
Based on the report, Africa with a mere $60 billion – or a 2% share – of the total $3 trillion of global investments in renewable energy in the last decade, still has the highest number of countries with double-digit performance in the period under review.
Kenya remains a global leader in clean energy transition evidenced by the marked improvements in financial investment, infrastructure development, and innovation. The report recognizes Kenya for its commitment to environmental sustainability, energy security, and energy equity. It also attributes the 57.8 score to efforts in enhancing its regulatory environment driving the energy shift.
The Sub-Saharan Africa region at an average score of 49.2 ranks as one of the most promising regions globally toward the 2030 targets of cleaner energy sources and technologies with an 11% growth in a decade. In addition, the region differentiates itself in sustainability, regulatory indicators for sustainable energy, creation of green jobs, and political commitment to promote the subsector.
As per the 2015 Paris Agreement, it’s essential to limit global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius below preindustrial levels hence more adoption of renewables is called for globally. The continent of Africa is lauded for committing to the transition with Cote D’Ivoire (16.68), Kenya (10.56), Senegal (12.18), Zimbabwe (12.28), and Tanzania (10.15) having experienced the highest growth in the subsector in the last nine years.
The report highlights that only a small number of countries are making progress in advancing equitable, secure, and sustainable dimensions of renewable energy. It also emphasizes that improvements in energy security are often achieved at the expense of other important parameters.
This underscores the need for targeted funding, investments, and incentives to ensure a more equitable transition, particularly for developing nations in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.
Through the African Climate Summit in Kenya, the African leaders came up with the Nairobi Declaration, which was developed after rallying for support in the renewable energy transition for Africa.
This call was leveraged on the continent’s abundant wind, solar, and geothermal resources. As emphasized by Lorraine Chiponda, coordinator, of Movement Building Space, Africa deserves far more than mere crumbs when it comes to transitioning towards clean, sustainable energy.
Mohamed Adow, founder and Director of Power Shift Africa, emphasizes that by leveraging abundant renewable resources and attracting necessary investments, countries can drive their development, tackle historical challenges, and take the lead in transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy.
This sentiment aligns with the recent Just Transition Report, which highlights Africa’s potential to address historical and structural challenges such as maldevelopment, debt, and energy poverty through the use of renewable energy.
This echoes the message from Kenya’s President Dr. William Ruto, who emphasized the continent’s readiness to lead the fight against climate change in the renewable energy sector, stating, “Africa is the continent with 60% of the world’s renewable energy assets, including solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower.”
