EDITORIAL: Energy poverty used to justify corporate greed

The self-congratulatory atmosphere at the African Energy Week in Cape Town was stifling. But given that delegates were there to explain why Africa must and shall exploit its yet untapped fossil fuel reserves, climate change be damned, one must assume some suffocation by propaganda was right on theme.

Nary a speaker could resist the temptation to remind the audience of eager investors that all of this is really for the poor.

True, energy poverty is a major developmental challenge on the continent. In Sub-Saharan Africa, almost half the population is without access to electricity. Fossil fuels will have to play a part, one way or another, in getting electricity to every home in Africa. 

But when the diamond and platinum sponsors of your conference include TotalEnergies, Chevron, ExxonMobil and BP, it is clear whose interests are really being represented.

Here the renewable energy industry is starting to show some similarity to fossil fuels.

One of the exciting promises of renewable energy, a true liberalisation of the energy market, is starting to fade as the industry slowly becomes dominated by larger players. This is partly just due to economies of scale, but also because of poor and slow policy development.

In SA we can already see how this might crowd out smaller players and derail plans for community-owned projects that, unlike vague promises to end energy poverty, could be a direct benefit for the poor.