China Scales up Africa Clean Energy Support

The World Bank said September 8 that it is strengthening its partnership with China for African cleaner energy development through two initiatives launched during the second Investing in Africa Forum, a two-day event held in the city of Guangzhou, near Hong Kong.

On the forum’s opening day, September 7, China’s finance ministry and National Energy Administration (NEA) and the World Bank signed a memo of understanding (MOU) to strengthen energy cooperation in Africa in clean and renewable power including solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, natural gas, as well as power grid and off-grid solutions. The bank’s statement did not mention any funding commitments. However, a report published two months ago by the International Energy Agency outlined just how extensive China’s investment in such African power projects has already been.

Photo credit: World Bank

"China is more than ever committed to Africa’s development and we value our partnership with the World Bank Africa Region in joint support for Africa,” said Hu Haibang, chairman of China Development Bank.

The memo was signed by NEA chief Nur Bekri, Chinese finance vice-minister Shi Yaobin, and the bank’s president Jim Yong Kim who is currently standing for his second term in office. The bank already has Africa energy partnerships with the US, European Union and Scandinavian countries.

The forum also saw the launch of Africa Think Tank Alliance (IATTA), a platform for knowledge-sharing and partnerships among think-tanks in Africa, China and worldwide, which the bank’s Africa chief economist Albert Zeufack described as “a win for all” as it would “inform capital-investment decisions by developing guidelines, investment plans and policy suggestions to client countries.”

Senegal will host the third such forum in 2017, its economy minister Amadou Ba announced. This year's attendees included South African president Jacob Zuma, Nigerian industry minister Okechukwu Enelamah, plus 300 policy-makers along with private sector and development agency delegates. 

Data released last month showed that $81bn was mobilised for projects co-funded by the world’s six largest multilateral banks, including the World Bank, to tackle climate change – of which 9% in sub-Saharan Africa and 9% in North Africa. A quarter of the overall $81bn went on energy, transport and infrastructure projects.

Ahead of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou near Shanghai, the world’s biggest polluters China and the US formally pledged September 3 to ratify the UN Climate Change agreement reached last December in Paris. Hangzhou was put on a week-long public holiday, with factories closed, workers given paid leave and its 9mn residents encouraged to go away on holiday, in order to curb air pollution during the G20 Summit.

Mark Smedley