A key energy transition meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, highlighted Africa's energy security and future, alongside the global push to accelerate an equitable and affordable transition to renewable energy. The G20 Energy Transition Working Group (ETWG) held its second meeting from April 30 to May 2, with South Africa, the host country, urging G20 nations to join forces to bolster energy security across the African continent and in developing nations. These discussions come at a pivotal moment, as countries strive to balance decarbonization goals with the pressing energy needs, especially in Africa — a continent rich in natural resources, yet still grappling with widespread poverty, where hundreds of millions live without electricity.
"It's important that we are able to manage this transition in a manner that takes into account our own domestic conditions. You need to balance that with the need to ensure that you don't stifle the ability of the economy to grow and get more and more people into employment, re-skill people, ensure that there's upward social economic ability of citizens of our respective countries," said Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, South African Electricity and Energy Minister. South Africa also called for global cooperation to accelerate a fair and affordable transition to renewable energy at the meeting.
Africa relies heavily on fossil fuels, and the challenge of its transition lies in convincing wealthier nations to allocate necessary funding — an issue that has already sparked debate among G20 members. "The financing is important, of that infrastructure. Don't punish poor countries.
Accept that the western and more developed countries have got an obligation to help poor countries. So that's really how we fashioned the conversation and I'm confident we're going to find each other," Ramokgopa said. Fortunately, leading efforts are already underway.
The European Union has pledged 4.4 billion euros (about 5 billion U.S. dollars) to South Africa's clean energy sector, with a focus on developing green hydrogen — a key industry that could bring significant economic benefits. China has also joined efforts, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with South Africa to explore nuclear-powered small modular reactors (SMRs) — a move expected to strengthen South Africa's energy capacity, address its declining energy security, and support its transition to a more reliable and sustainable energy system. "The focus on SMR is important for us and the cooperation with China is critical.
Of course China has gone on to exploit that technology and we want to sort of co-create with China and hence the MoU," said Subesh Pillay, interim director-general of the South African Electricity and Energy Ministry. G20 meeting in Cape Town places Africa’s energy security at forefront of global transition efforts G20 meeting in Cape Town places Africa’s energy security at forefront of global transition efforts
