Hiedberg @ the Future of Energy Conference

Ghana’s Future of Energy Conference was an enlightening experience. The conversation went deep!

The speakers were brilliant and engaging as they expertly discussed their topics. You could hear their passion for energy as they explained opportunities, challenges, and innovations within the sector. Both energy novices and experts left the conference with new knowledge and a call to action to push forward in Africa’s energy sector.

Our key takeaways from this event are:

Africa needs to curb its infrastructure gap.

Africa, specifically Sub-Saharan Africa, faces energy poverty. Historically, countries have been unable to provide reliable energy assets, especially in rural communities. The two major drivers for these issues are:

• underinvestment in the energy sector
• policy barriers — inconsistent and underenforced government policies

Africa’s creditworthiness and perception of risk hinder progress.

It’s well known that Africa is perceived as risky — risky to invest, travel, and the list goes on. We can debate how the Western definition of creditworthiness misdiagnoses risk in the African context. However, the key point is that it has negatively affected how African governments, entities, and companies have been able to raise capital. For example, Africa only attracted 2% of global investments in clean energy. Additionally, African entities that pursue debt financing face higher interest rates.

Carbon Markets are an instrumental way to bring together public and private sector stakeholders to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For carbon markets to be effective the following must occur:

• Regulatory clarity and strong policies need to be the standard.
• There needs to be a strong market infrastructure in place. This includes ensuring the trading platform and adjacent tools operate well and are right for the market we are in.
• Bridging the knowledge gap will be critical for the carbon market’s success. We will need to ensure all stakeholders understand what the carbon market is/does as well as how to participate effectively.
• For it to be a success, both the public and private sectors need to collaborate and be in alignment. Banks with multi-country presence such as Ecobank or the African Development Bank will be key partners in scaling the carbon market.
• We will need to not only document and mitigate risk to ensure user safety and protection, but we will also need to consistently monitor and enforce regulatory policies.

Although the opportunities may seem daunting, there’s a thrill in getting plugged into Africa’s energy sector. Whether exploring a private-public partnership financial framework or establishing robust infrastructure for a carbon market, there are ample opportunities to engage and create a long-lasting impact in this sector across many African countries.