UK government will invest $126mn in renewable energy projects in Africa

The United Kingdom government announced this week at the COP24 global climate summit in Poland its plans to invest US$126mn (£100mn) in renewable energy projects across sub-Saharan Africa over the next five years. According to a report by IOL, the investment effectively triples the available fund for the Renewable Energy Performance Platform, and will allow for the support of 40 more renewable energy projects than were previously funded.

The creation of construction jobs and infrastructure is also predicted to generate almost $200mn in private sector investment over the same period. 2.4mn people are expected to gain new or improved access to clean energy from small-scale solar, wind, hydro and geothermal projects supported by the investment. The projects are expected to create over 8,000 jobs across sub-Saharan Africa.

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The transition to green energy from fossil fuel in the affected areas is predicted to save 3mn tonnes of carbon over the projects’ lifetime. “At home we’re world leaders in cutting emissions while growing our economy and abroad we’re showing our international leadership by giving countries a helping hand to shift to greener, cleaner economies," UK Energy and Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry said.

"This £100 million will help communities harness the power of their natural resources to provide hundreds of thousands of people with electricity for the first time. Building these clean, reliable sources of energy will also create thousands of quality jobs in these growing green economies."