Lusaka: The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) on Monday emphasized the urgent need to accelerate access to clean and affordable energy in the region. Mohamed Kadah, assistant secretary general of COMESA, highlighted the chronic underinvestment in energy infrastructure, which has led to financial difficulties for many utilities, resulting in frequent power outages and load-shedding.
According to Ghana News Agency, Kadah made these remarks during the opening of the Accelerating Sustainable and Clean Energy Access Transformation (ASCENT) Week, which is taking place from September 22-26. The event has brought together over 300 energy leaders from Eastern and Southern Africa to explore strategies for expanding clean and affordable energy to over 100 million people.
Kadah noted that the decreasing costs of solar, wind, and hydropower provide an opportunity for the region to bypass fossil fuels, especially given Africa's abundant solar irradiance and wind potential. The ASCENT program, a collaboration between COMESA and the World Bank, is a 5-billion-dollar initiative aimed at electrifying 100 million people in the region by 2030 through tailored grid and off-grid renewable solutions.
The energy access gap is one of the region's most significant vulnerabilities; however, closing this gap presents one of Africa's greatest opportunities, emphasized Kadah.
