Funding Africa’s $2.8tr net-zero transition by 2050 a ‘pressing issue’

Funding Africa’s transition to net zero by 2050 is one of the most pressing issues that Africa and the world must address, PwC states in a new report that estimates the cost of such a transition to be about $2.8-trillion. The ‘Africa Energy Review 2021’ calculates that $33-billion would be required yearly between 2020 and 2030 to place Africa on a path to a net-zero energy mix by 2050. Yearly costs would then rise substantially to $111-billion between 2030 and 2040 and to $142-billion between 2040 and 2050.
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Ramaphosa says $8.5bn just transition partnership could become model for others

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the initial $8.5-billion to be mobilised over the next three to five years in support of South Africa’s just transition to a low-carbon economy, will facilitate the implementation of the country’s ambitious emission-reduction goals and develop a model for a just transition that could be used elsewhere. In a message to the COP26 Energy session held on November 4, Ramaphosa reiterated that South Africa required support to achieve its Nationally Determined Contribution targets, which would involve South Africa transforming its coal-dependent energy system at “unprecedented speed and scale”.
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Top-performing South African fund rides bet on energy stocks

South Africa’s top-performing equity fund has reaped the benefit of a wager that battered stocks, particularly in the energy sector, would flourish as economies rebounded from the worst of the pandemic. Blue Quadrant Capital Management’s Worldwide Flexible Prescient Fund has returned 125% this year, the most of any South African fund of at least 100 million rand ($6.5 million), and more than double its nearest rival. Additions made while Covid-19 ravaged markets in the first quarter of 2020 have proved key, said Leandro Gastaldi, who runs the R120-million portfolio.
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Natural gas key to Africa’s energy security, says AfDB’s Adesina

Natural gas remains key to Africa’s energy security and economic prosperity, even as political pressure grows to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels, according to the continent’s biggest development bank. “Gas is fundamental to Africa’s energy system,” African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Wednesday. “We’ve got to make sure that we’re pragmatic” and that a system is created to support long-term development, he said.
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India, UK International Solar programme seeks to connect 140 countries

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) on November 3 unveiled plans for the first transnational network of solar power grids, known as the Green Grids Initiative – One Sun One World One Grid (GGI-OSOWOG), at COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland. The initiative is aimed at connecting 140 countries to round-the-clock green and renewable power.
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