It has become widely known in the past week that the Strait of Hormuz is the passage through which one-fifth of global crude moves. With the conflict enduring, and passage obstructed, the impact will and has started to be felt in the price be barrel of Brent crude oil, trading at 83USD/Bbr up from 70USD/Bbr under a week ago.
This price spike is critical because crude oil is used to produce petrol, diesel, lubricants, fertilizers, and other petroleum products.
This places the commodity at the centre of transport, electricity, and agriculture, sectors that are relied upon and expended daily.
Stress test
As the conflict continues, there are muted observations on who is an ally, foe, or neutral, with varied expectations attached to each. In perspective, Africa sits at a strategic trade intersection and point of geopolitical tensions, with the latter based on the Africa Arab political arrangements. Combined, these factors make the continent an absorber of impact more than a contributor.
The US-Iran conflict has served as a reasonable stress test for Africa, exposing a continent laid bare not by the conflict itself, but by its chronic reliance on external energy. While the impact of this conflict will vary across the globe, Africa must look for the opportunities within itself, particularly within the energy sector.
There is an acute need to accelerate energy transition, to harness renewables, and to improve and enhance the energy infrastructure. For Africa, this crisis strengthens two priorities: accelerating the energy transition and improving energy infrastructure to mitigate future vulnerability.
These two efforts work in tandem to address the trilateral challenge of enabling energy access, energy security, and energy sustainability across the continent.
Energy transition
Energy transition is a bold and deliberate move toward energy independence, a concept that is itself not new. To illustrate, Morocco has the Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex, which is contributing to the country’s 40% installed renewables capacity. Similarly, Egypt’s Benban solar complex in the Western Sahara Desert contributes to the mix of hydro, wind, and solar energy.
Meanwhile, countries like Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mozambique, and South Africa all have significant hydropower potential. Despite this potential, many of the projects require, or have, pending regulatory or financial approvals or are at varied levels of construction.
From the above and not exhaustively, it is clear that Africa has the potential to transition from a heavy reliance on fossil fuels by harnessing its abundant renewable sources.
An energy transition would be a fundamental step towards insulating the continent against energy shocks within an increasingly impulsive geopolitical environment.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is the link between the source and the need. Africa, as is often the case, is not short of ideas or plans but rather lacks in expeditious implementation.
To illustrate, the ZIZABONA line, which will bolster the Southern Africa Power pool as a channel of hydro and solar power, was initiated in 2023 and will only be completed in 2028, if regulatory and political hurdles are overcome.
The Egypt and Sudan Electrical Grid (North South Interconnector project), which was started in 2022, is set for completion in 2030. Despite the timeline being briefly disrupted in 2023 by the conflict in Sudan, there is substantial progress.
Similarly, in West Africa, the West Africa Power Pool (WAPP) managed to connect and test electricity synchronization across participating countries in the ECOWAS region. Notwithstanding the success of this enterprise, it has been argued that countries involved will only gain markedly from it if the local grids have sufficient load capacity.
When a crisis strikes globally, Africa must step forward as a solution provider and not as a recipient of instruction. Endowed with vast resources and a vibrant young population, Africa should find itself within the core of discourse, determining modalities.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict exposed Africa’s dependence on wheat, despite this grain forming a significant part of the daily diet on the continent, particularly bread.
This political crisis should not pass as a mere moment of reflection, but rather as a catalyst for urgent action. It should not take another conflict to highlight that Africa needs to tap into its water or wind energy potential.
By Kuda Bandama – Policy Analyst and Researcher
