Chic African Culture Blog

Link Between Energy, Poverty and Climate Change in Africa

Hospitals and clinics in Africa cannot count on consistent power to operate equipment and businesses cannot access tools for communications and market development.

It is very hard to do anything once the daylight is gone. In economics, the efficiency of electricity and electrification links technological progress and universal access to modern energy services is a major barrier to eradicating poverty.

The African continent is gifted with fossil fuels and renewable energy resources, however; nearly 662 million Africans lack access to electricity and a life without electricity is a life with limited opportunities. 

Energy services must be of sufficient megawatts generated to meet people’s needs. It must be accessible so children can study after dark and hospitals and clinics can store medicines.

Working in a health clinic without electricity in Ghana
Working in a health clinic without electricity in Ghana

Economic growth and climate change have intensified pressure on Africa’s timeworn energy infrastructure highlighting the links between poverty and lack of access to safe affordable electricity.

Over 600,000 Africans are killed every year by air pollution caused by the use of burning wood, and other organic matter for cooking. 

 Two in every three people, around 621 million in total, have no access to electricity in Africa below the Sahara desert. 

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Malawi and Sierra Leone, fewer than one in 10 people have access to electricity. 

In Nigeria, a global oil-exporting superpower, 93 million people lack electricity. 

Emerging countries such as Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda each have over 30 million people without electricity. In September 2011, the UN Secretary-General launched the Sustainable Energy for All initiative with the aim of achieving three goals by 2030: 

Ensuring universal access to modern energy services; doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency, and doubling the share of renewable energy in the global mix. Africa is far from being on track to achieve this goal. While there are marked variations across countries, the overall region has an energy crisis that demands urgent political attention. 

According to the International Energy Agency, 645 million Africans could still lack access to electricity in 2030. Nowhere are the threads connecting energy, climate, and development more evident than in Africa. No region has made a smaller contribution to climate change. Yet Africa will pay the highest price for failure to avert a global climate catastrophe. 

Meanwhile, the region’s energy systems are underpowered, inefficient and unequal. Energy deficits act as a brake on economic growth, job creation, and poverty reduction, and they reinforce inequalities linked to wealth, gender and the rural-urban divide. One-fifth of global emissions associated with land-use changes originate in Africa and cutting these emissions is vital to international efforts aimed at avoiding dangerous climate change. 

Energy is the link connecting the global poverty agenda and climate change. The carbon-intensive energy systems now driving economic growth are locked into a collision course with the ecological systems that define our planetary boundaries. Averting that collision – while eradicating poverty, building more inclusive societies and meeting the energy needs of the world’s poorest countries and people – is the defining international cooperation challenge of the 21st century.

Three views on energy, poverty and climate change in Africa from Desmond Tutu, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete and Kofi A. Annan.

Desmond Tutu, Human Rights activist and Nobel Prize winner

“We can no longer tinker about the edges. We can no longer continue feeding our addiction to fossil fuels as if there were no tomorrow. For there will be no tomorrow. As a matter of urgency, we must begin a global transition to a new safe energy economy. This requires fundamentally rethinking our economic systems, to put them on a sustainable and more equitable footing.”

H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania

“Africa, too, has no choice other than joining hands to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change. However, Africa can make a choice on how it can adapt and mitigate and when it can do so in terms of timeframe and pace. For Africa, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. If Africa focuses on smart choices, it can win investments in the next few decades in climate-resilient and low emission development pathways.”

The late Kofi A. Annan Chair of the Africa Progress Panel

"Future generations will surely judge this generation of leaders not by principles they set out in communiqués but by what they actually do to eradicate poverty, build shared prosperity and protect our children and their children from climate disaster."
Carrying water home for the family in Nigeria Africa
Carrying home water for the family in Nigeria Africa

Together we build awareness that boost harmony, education, and success, below are more links to articles you will find thought provoking.

  1. Historical African Country Name
  2. Top 20 Largest Countries in Africa
  3. How many countries does Africa have?
  4. Roots of Africanized Christianity Spiritual Songs
  5. Chocolate Processing Facts History and Recipes
  6. Awesome Kenyan Woman
  7. Land is Not For Women in Sierra Leone
  8. African Kente Cloth Facts
  9. Accra the Ghanaian Capital Ultimate Mall Experience


Chic African Culture and The African Gourmet=

This Week’s Best Posts and Pages

Nature Holds Many Secrets | Hurricanes, Angry African Ancestors

Image
Eastern coasts of Caribbean, United States, and South America, are in danger of being blasted by hurricanes wind and rain during hurricane season from June through November. But, why? The scientific reason why is because of Africa’s Sahara desert dust storms and the transition of thunderstorms off the west coast of Africa. The waters in the North Atlantic Ocean are typically at their warmest while the Sahara is at its hottest from July through October, so the chances of a hurricane are highest during these months. African legend, the paths hurricanes follow. Hurricanes are gigantic weather systems using convection, the movement of hot and cold air, to create dangerous storms. They are rotating heat engines powered by the warmth of tropical waters having three main parts, the eye, the eyewall, and rainbands. Hurricanes cannot form just anywhere in the world due to the need for hot and humid air. They normally form close to the equator and move west or northwest. Hurrica
Learn More

Dinka and Nuer Tribes of South Sudan

Image
Sudan was the largest country in Africa until 2011 when Sudan and South Sudan became two separate countries. The Dinka are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Republic of Sudan. Dinka and Nuer Tribes of Sudan Explore and Understand Africa Through Her Food and Culture Whether Nuer or Dinka, traditionally the focus for Sudanese people has been a nomadic community, the small communities are made up of extended families based on lineage of male relatives and ancestors. The members of a lineage act in the group's interest, safeguarding territory or forming important ties with other families by marriage. Usually, a family leader is a respected elder. Overview of South Sudan Dinka and Nuer Tribes Sudan lies wholly within the tropics, and with the exception of the Sudd region in the south, and some hilly districts towards its western and eastern extremities, constitute one vast plain. The extreme north is Saharan in its heat and aridity, but below this, a central belt
Learn More

Using Amen and Ashe or Ase

Image
Usage of Amen and Ashe or Ase Ashe to Amen learn about the custom of using the words Ashe and Amen historically. Where did the word Amen and Ashe come from why is it said and what does it mean? In Judaism, 3,500 years old and Christian religions 2,000 years old, Amen, means may it be so. In the African Yoruba language among the Yoruba people whose culture is as old as time, Ashe or Ase means may it be so. Ase or Ashe means power, commandment, and authority, the ability to make whatever one says happen from the spiritual to the physical realm. In the Yoruba language, Ashe is omnipresent spiritual energy. Followers of Judaism and Christian religions use the word Amen. It is the word utilized to end prayers as an affirmation for the requests to be provided by God. Yoruba is as old as time, Ashe refers to the life force within all living things, the spark that animates life. It is used as a term used in the same manner as Amen at the end of appeals and prayers as an affirmati
Learn More

South African Beef Curry Recipe

Image
Perfect South African Apricot Beef Curry Recipe South African beef curry recipe is a South African food recipe to share around the world while learning about South Africa rainbow nation food history and favorite recipes of Black African, Colored mixed race ancestry, White, and Indian. South African Beef Curry Recipe When it comes to quick and satisfying slow cooker crockpot meals South African Apricot Beef Curry recipe is at the top of the African food dinner recipe list. Use your slow cooker for this simple South African Apricot Beef Curry recipe, it is full of apricot jam, spices and tender beef to serve with rice and grilled bread. How to Make Perfect South African Apricot Beef Curry Recipe Explore and Understand Africa Through Her Food and Culture By Chic African Culture African food recipe South Africa food is one of the most diverse on the African continent. South African apricot beef curry is an easy delicious slow cooker dinner recipe to make on a weeknight. South Afr
Learn More

African cultures express, encourage, and communicate energy

African cultures express, encourage, and communicate energy

Support African History and Culture

Chic African Culture and The African Gourmet are dedicated to discovering, collecting and sharing African history and heritage celebrating 14 years of service in 2021. Share and support in the pride of being part of an important cultural and educational resource.


Being African in America I have grown up learning about different ethnic cultures. My father and mother are historians of African culture and history and their influence expanded my activities to several best-selling cookbooks, magazine columns, self-branded products, and a popular African culture and food blog.

Chic African Culture

Be better than average and support African history and culture.