Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy, Kornelia Shilunga, said more than ever, Africa must lend its voice to the growing discourse of the continent’s participation in the energy industry, which demonstrates the potential opportunity for alleviating poverty.
In her closing remarks issued on Tuesday at the Namibia 4th International Energy conference held in Windhoek from 20 to 21 April 2022, Shilunga said the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that 600 million people in Africa lack access to electricity, stressing that the endeavour to win the energy poverty battle should be driven by the fact that access to energy translate to a better quality of life and unlocks economic opportunities, especially for the youth.
She noted that a lack of access to clean, cheaper and sustainable energy has had devastating results for Namibia, the Sub-Saharan region and created constraints on people’s social and economic progression.
“Namibia has set itself along the path to transforming into a global hub for Green Hydrogen, deliberations have also touched on the need to extensively cement regional partnerships and strategic synergies for the sake of tapping into wind and solar to increase access to power,” she said.
Shilunga indicated that the conference also shared how Namibia will navigate the migration towards intermittent sources of energy at a time when oil is being discovered, adding that the recent two possible oil discoveries present a massive economic opportunity for the country.
“Namibia’s energy transition has to be practical and well calculated so that we do not miss the opportunity presented before us to rewrite our economic story and accomplish the task of lifting our people out of poverty. It is my hope that the conference deliberations have helped us understand the magnitude of the problems before us,” she noted.
Amongst the attendees were Namibia’s Minister of Mines and Energy, Tom Alweendo; Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea, Gabriel Obiang Lima; Zambia’s Minister of Energy, Peter Kapala; the energy sector stakeholders, scholars and technocrats.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
