Sino-African collaboration aids transition to green energy

China injects vitality into the continent’s quest for climate resilience, say analysts

In Garissa, a small town 350 kilometers east of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, a Chinese-funded solar plant is powering factories, schools and households while contributing to the Kenyan national grid by providing 2 percent of the national energy mix.

The Garissa facility is the largest grid-connected solar power plant in East and Central Africa. It is the first time Kenya has had a major power plant to harness its abundant solar energy resources, diversify the country’s power generation mix and reduce energy costs.

Were it not for the collaboration between the Kenyan and Chinese governments, the 50-megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant, which was built by the China Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic and Technical Cooperation, would not have seen the light of day.

The plant is just one of many green energy projects being built across Africa through increased collaboration with China. The Sakai solar power station in the Central African Republic, the Aysha wind power project in Ethiopia and the Kafue Gorge hydroelectric station in Zambia — all products of this collaboration — are crucial at a time when climate change is causing drought, floods and famine on the continent.

During the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is being held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, delegates from African countries, including Kenya, South Africa and Ghana, have pledged to intensify efforts to develop renewable energy and have called for international cooperation.

African experts expect the continent to work closer with China, which leads the world in renewable energy such as wind, solar and hydropower, in order to address climate change. Tackling climate change has been an important part of bilateral cooperation, with China having been involved in nearly 100 renewable energy and green development projects in Africa over the past two decades.

Cavince Adhere, an international relations scholar in Nairobi, said China has injected vitality into the continent’s quest for climate resilience, despite Africa facing funding and technological bottlenecks in its green transition.

“China has been the leading partner in the continent’s desire to switch to solar and wind energy,” he said.

China has also called on developed economies to increase support for developing nations, urging them to fulfill their commitments by providing funds pledged to emerging economies to help them fight climate change, Adhere said.

Although Sino-African energy cooperation continues to grow, more efforts are still needed, said

Adhere. The International Energy Agency estimates that sub-Saharan Africa needs to invest $300 billion to achieve universal electricity access by 2030.

Peter Kagwanja, chief executive officer at the Africa Policy Institute in Nairobi, said Africa’s shift to green energy is taking place against the constraints of insufficient energy supply on the continent.

Kagwanja said Africa’s energy potential, especially in renewable energy, is enormous, yet only a fraction of it is being realized.

The continent is in a position to benefit from China’s record on alternative energy, with the country on track to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.