Can Africa survive the global energy transition?

-other sources that are more environment-friendly. The aim of this energy transformation is to limit and mitigate the effects of climate change, through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxides, and nitrous oxides associated with the burning of fossil fuels. Emission and leakage of un-combusted natural gas from oil and gas facilities also contribute to increased carbon content in the atmosphere impacting the earth's climate.

Most of the world's energy is generated from fossil or carbon-based fuels. Carbon-based fuels account for about 85 per cent of the energy used globally. The combustion of carbon fuels produces carbon dioxide, which contributes 76 per cent to the total emission of greenhouse gases. Thus, the burning of carbon-based fuels is the single largest contributor to global warming and climate change. The greenhouse cases that are emitted from the burning of fossil fuels absorb infrared radiation from the sun and prevent it from leaving the atmosphere by reradiating it on the earth surface leading to a rise in temperatures. Apart from the pressing issue of climate change, there is a limited amount of fossil fuel in the ground, predetermined by nature. Current proven oil reserves will be depleted and unavailable within the next 100 years. This makes alternative eco-friendly sources of energy a top priority of the century.

In response to the pressing demand to transition to new forms of energy that are sustainable and friendlier to the environment, nations of the world are researching and making significant strides in new sources of energy which include solar, wind, nuclear, geothermal and hydroelectric technologies. These energy sources are expected to gradually and eventually replace fossil fuels by the middle of the century. In 2015, 196 countries signed the Paris Agreement on climate change to hold "the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2˚C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5˚ above pre-industrial levels, recognising that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change." That decision implied that fossil fuels, which contribute significantly to global warming, needed to be replaced. Already, many countries have begun to generate a significant amount of energy from renewable sources. The European Union's renewable energy directive seeks to increase the share of renewable sources of energy in total EU consumption to 32 per cent by 2030 up from 20 per cent in 2020. Denmark for instance currently generates 30 per cent of its energy from wind turbines, reducing its fossil fuels consumption from 95 per cent in the 1970s to 65 per cent in the recent years. In USA, plans and major projects are in the works with a goal to achieve 100 per cent zero carbon electricity by 2035. Some of the strategies to achieve this includes retrofitting existing fossil fuel power plants with carbon capture equipment, investing in new sources of hydrogen produced from renewable energy, nuclear energy, and waste to power industrial facilities. Also in April 2021, the US president Joe Biden announced a $2 trillion dollar infrastructure investment plan that incorporates tax incentives for clean energy, electric transmission and carbon capture technology and funding for research and development to tackle climate change. According to the United Nations Environment program (UNEP), global investments in renewable energy has been growing from $40 billion in 2004 to $304 billion in 2020 with China, USA, Europe, India, and Brazil as global leaders, respectively.

Nigeria appears unprepared for a comprehensive energy transitioning; and it is hard not to see problems that the transformation may bring upon the economy of the nation. But it appears that there is a level of awareness in the corridors of power as to the necessity of the global call for decarbonisation. Nigeria needs to lock in long term gas sales contract agreements in Europe, China and India and seek to assert her influence in the African regional market.