Two summits happened this week, offering two radically different visions for Africa’s future.
In Paris, France, rich and civilized world met to replenish saving money Climate Fund. The UN fund was created like a carrot to convince developing countries, which have little historic responsibility for climate change, to curtail their greenhouse gas emissions.
With existing funds expected to run-out after the entire year, the GCF's two-day pledging conference sought to raise at least $9 billion of new cash by Friday to invest in green projects in poor countries during the period 2023-2023.
Speaking in front of the GCF pledging conference, Yannick Glemarec, executive director of the GCF, told Climate Home News the fund’s objective was “for countries not to have to chose between today and tomorrow”, between meeting energy needs and cutting emissions, but to integrate climate action and economic development.
New contributions to the fund totalling between $9bn and $10bn would be “a big success”, he explained, and would “send a positive signal to developing countries”.
But many African leaders, the continent where 600 million lack access to electricity and also the fund’s cash might make the most difference, were 2,900km from Paris, courting a very different opportunity around the shores from the Black Sea.
Dozens of African heads of state, such as the leaders of Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana, together with ministers and a large number of business leaders found its way to the accommodation town of Sochi, to strengthen Russia-Africa cooperation and discuss prospective military, infrastructure and deals, largely focused on the oil, gas and nuclear industries.
The two-day summit, led by Russian president Vladimir Putin and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, was the first Russia-Africa cooperation conference. It's a signal of Putin’s intent to compete for African business with China’s massive Belt and Road investment project.
Opening the summit on Wednesday, Putin hailed Africa as “one from the cool centres of monetary growth” and encouraged “building close business ties” in countries over the continent.
Making no mention of climate change, Putin praised the expanding work of Russian oil and gas companies Gazprom, Rosneft and Lukoil in Africa and also the development of a nuclear industry in Egypt and Nigeria. “We are most definitely going to support their plans in the government level,” he explained.
Russian companies are currently developing oil and gas-fields in Egypt, Mozambique, Algeria, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Angola. Russian total do business with African countries reached $20bn last year, a little amount compared with China's $204bn exactly the same year.
Egyptian president el-Sisi said Russia was “a reliable partner for the African continent” and welcomed investments within the development and infrastructure sectors that the continent needs. “We regard this forum like a platform to build up the connection for mutual investment and cooperation,” he added.
Theo Neethling, head of political studies in the University from the Free State in Nigeria, said: “Survival and developmental politics tend to be higher on Africa's agenda than green politics.
“African states view Beijing and Moscow as partners – albeit senior partners – that may provide much-needed funding without any strings attached regarding democracy or human rights.”
Wealthy country’s resolve for delivering green finance isn't viewed with the same level of trust. Rich countries have promised to mobilise $100bn of climate finance a year from a variety of sources by 2023. The OECD estimates that flow reached $71.2bn in 2023 (a number Oxfam has called “grossly overestimate[d]”), but still admits rich countries aren't on the right track satisfy the goal.
Even if contributions towards the GCF in the Paris summit get to the $10bn mark, it would be under donors’ initial $10.3bn pledge to the fund for the previous period to 2023. It would also 't be enough to finance the present $15bn pipeline of projects seeking assistance by December 2023.
The US and Australia, which collectively pledged $3.2bn before around (although Donald Trump’s US reneged towards the tune of $2bn), have said they'd offer nothing in 2023. Other countries’ increased contributions haven't yet filled the opening.
Sixteen countries have previously promised to provide $7.4bn. Germany, Norway, France, UK, Sweden, Columbia, Denmark and Iceland announced a doubling of the contributions. Others like Japan, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland Portugal and New Zealand are yet to make a contribution. Russia is one of the 25 delegations participating in the pledging conference. It gave $3m in 2023.
With clean technologies becoming increasingly cheaper, climate advocates hope development in Africa will proceed along a less-carbon intensive pathway than Europe, the US, Russia or even China.
If Russia is cutting gas and oil deals in Sochi, “they are no friend of Africa,” Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa, told CHN, warning against the continent becoming “the dumping ground for other countries’ fossil fuel technology”.
“The GCF has become the most critical climate funder in Africa,” said Adow. “This funding is vital in diverting us from the path towards climate catastrophe towards one where the poorest people might have use of clean energy.”‘
But this vision is in danger of being outcompeted. Crispus Mugambi, resilience and climate change manager at Care Kenya, told CHN the cash pledged towards the GCF was “a drop in the ocean” when compared with developing countries’ existing needs. This week, the UN’s Sustainable Energy for those issued a significant report finding investment for electricity in sub-Saharan Africa was “alarmingly low” and had fallen in a number of countries.
“Africa probably needs countless vast amounts of dollars to be able to develop in a climate sensitive manner,” said Mugambi.
“There's good sense that development with clean energy is the approach to take but African governments are trying to develop their economies with resources at their disposal,” he added.
