Opoku Prempeh woos European support for Africa’s energy transition

The Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has told world leaders that the aim of Africa is to develop without being caught up in a place of pollution.

He said that the need for the developed world, including Europe, to transition in the area of energy, should be done hand in hand with Africa and not in a way that gives the continent the impression that it is not invited.

Making a spirited contribution as a guest during a forum held on the sidelines of the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt, the minister urged the world's leaders to be equally interested in Africa's transition.

“Africa doesn’t want to pollute to develop. We want to have clean, sustainable, reliable, affordable energy to develop but someway somehow, somebody must pay for it. If you want Africans to pay for it, it will take a longer time so don’t tell me that when I say I’ll transit in 2070, you say it’s not ambitious. It is very ambitious in Ghana if I have to find 562 billion to do my transitional plan,” he said.

Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh explained further that Africa needs support to go through the right channels in doing this right alongside the rest of the world.

“So, for those who are talking, and we all know for the poor person who is hungry, he doesn’t care about where the food is coming from; he has to feed the family. So, if you want the food to come from a place, then provide him the access, the ability to be able to cultivate and do the needful.

“So, all Africa is saying is that this transition, we all want to participate. It must be just, it must be fair, it must be equitable and not at the expense of Africa,” he stated.

The minister also stated that there is the need for the world leaders to know that energy is a must for all.

He said that while he calls for support for Africa, should it not come, the continent will develop nonetheless but not through the right channels.

“Energy is not a luxury; it’s a fundamental right and so governments must work to ensure that the whole population has access to energy, to develop socio-economically… when a person doesn’t have energy, how does the person become productive?... the world should understand that if they don’t support Africa through grants, leverage funds, concessional funding, and also taking the hard work out, Africa will develop anyway, and they might develop through the bad way,” he said.



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