This is the state of renewable energy in Africa right now

Apr 11, 2022

With the collaboration of Statista.

row of solar panels renewable energy in Africa

Statista shares new data, charting the rise of renewable energy in Africa Image: REUTERS/Ludovic Marin/Pool

Martin Armstrong

Data Journalist, Statista

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Africa

In 2020, 9% of all energy generated in Africa came from renewable sources, reports Statista.
North Africa is the current leader on the continent in terms of renewable energy capacity.
While Southern Africa is lagging behind, with just over 4,000 MW capacity.
When all under-construction projects are completed, Central Africa's capacity is set to more than double.

In 2020, 9 percent of all energy generated in Africa came from renewable sources, with a strong reliance (6.8 percent) on hydropower. The report by PricewaterhouseCoopers does however indicate that progress is being made in this area. From 2019 to 2020 alone, solar and wind capacity increased by 13 percent and 11 percent, respectively, while hydropower soared 25 percent. "Total installed renewable energy capacity in Africa has grown by over 24 GW since 2013". Looking further forward, forecasts to 2050 predict an extra 27.3 exajoules (EJ) compared to the current 1.8 EJ.

Surging renewable energy in Africa

Growth in the near future is "led by solar and wind projects in Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Ethiopia". Indeed, as this infographic illustrates, North Africa is the current leader on the continent in terms of renewable energy capacity, and is likely to stay in this position when factoring in the capacity currently under construction. The largest increase when all under construction projects are completed will be seen in Central Africa, where the capacity is set to more than double. West Africa, on the other hand, has very little in the way of new capacity around the corner, with just 100 MW under construction at the time of publication, compared to the 15,201 in Central Africa, for example.

Discover

What's the World Economic Forum doing about the transition to clean energy?

Moving to clean energy is key to combating climate change, yet in the past five years, the energy transition has stagnated.

Energy consumption and production contribute to two-thirds of global emissions, and 81% of the global energy system is still based on fossil fuels, the same percentage as 30 years ago. Plus, improvements in the energy intensity of the global economy (the amount of energy used per unit of economic activity) are slowing. In 2018 energy intensity improved by 1.2%, the slowest rate since 2010.

Effective policies, private-sector action and public-private cooperation are needed to create a more inclusive, sustainable, affordable and secure global energy system.

Benchmarking progress is essential to a successful transition. The World Economic Forum’s Energy Transition Index, which ranks 115 economies on how well they balance energy security and access with environmental sustainability and affordability, shows that the biggest challenge facing energy transition is the lack of readiness among the world’s largest emitters, including US, China, India and Russia. The 10 countries that score the highest in terms of readiness account for only 2.6% of global annual emissions.

To future-proof the global energy system, the Forum’s Centre for Energy & Materials is working on initiatives including Clean Power and Electrification, Energy and Industry Transition Intelligence, Industrial Ecosystems Transformation, and Transition Enablers to encourage and enable innovative energy investments, technologies and solutions.

Additionally, the Mission Possible Partnership (MPP) is working to assemble public and private partners to further the industry transition to set heavy industry and mobility sectors on the pathway towards net-zero emissions. MPP is an initiative created by the World Economic Forum and the Energy Transitions Commission.

Is your organisation interested in working with the World Economic Forum? Find out more here.

Chart showing renewable energy in Africa

Central states log the largest increase in the generation of renewable energy in Africa Image: Statista

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