The Managing Director of FBNBank Ghana, Mr Victor Yaw Asante, has urged stakeholders of Africa's energy sector to focus on providing capacity building and finance towards the realisation of Africa's sustainable energy needs.
Mr Victor Yaw Asante, who was representing Dr Adesola Adeduntan, Managing Director of the First Bank of Nigeria, the parent bank of FBNBank Ghana, was speaking as a panellist during a discussion on the topic "Financing Sustainable Energy Transitions in Africa - Pitfalls, Potentials and Paradoxes" at the Climate Finance for Sustainability Energy Transition in Africa Conference held at the University of Ghana.
As per the topic, Africa's widening energy access gap creates a unique opportunity for the region to leapfrog fossil fuel technologies and pursue a climate-friendly, needs-oriented power strategy aligned with the Paris Agreement and low-carbon growth.
Through the discussion, panellists helped identify and discuss financing gaps and opportunities to guide stakeholders to access, allocate and mobilise climate finance effectively.
Mr Asante established that Africa has several energy resources and that most of the currently used sources are hydro-carbon based while the water-based ones are not adequately tapped.
He also touched on solar and wind as additional options, explaining that very little attention has been paid to these two compared to water. "Solar can deliver 60 per cent of our own power energy," he said.
To ensure that Africa enjoys the best use of its multiple energy resources, Mr Asante stressed the need for investment in human capital development with a strong element of capacity building, as well as finance and technological advancement.
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He was of the view that this would bring about the much-needed transition to the use of sustainable energy, and that organisations should be able to strengthen human capital across the African continent as well as strengthen institutions across the board.
According to the Managing Director of FBNBank Ghana, "Capacity building in technology will be ideal if we want to transition to the sustainable energy that we want. Capacity requires two things; capital and skills. Organisations should, therefore, be able to strengthen human capital across the African continent as well as strengthen institutions across board.
"In terms of financing, the amount of investment required is not something that can easily be acquired from the continent at the moment. In Nigeria, they are committed to achieving net-zero gas by 2060 at the cost of about two trillion dollars, and Ghana plans to also achieve same by 2070. There must be a need for some interventions from some multinational banks, development banks and other financial organisations to assist in financing to achieve our goal," he said.
Other members of the panel for the topic include Ian Mashingaidze, Programme Director for Africa Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), Seun Akindele, Head of Corporate Communications of Access Bank, Chidozie Ezike, Head, Group ESG and Risk Measurement at United Bank for Africa. The moderator was Professor Kenneth Amaeshi of the School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute.
