Wealthy governments have been accused of promoting fossil fuel development in Africa at the expense of clean energy. Analysis showed 60% of public aid for energy projects was spent on fossil fuels, compared with just 18% on renewables. Oil Change International, a clean energy advocacy group that conducted the study, estimated aid to Africa’s energy sector was $59.5bn (£45.3bn) between 2014 and 2016.
It found governments that were moving away from fossil fuels at home continued to fund such projects in Africa, where communities are experiencing the worst impact from climate change, according to The Guardian.
Egypt, Angola and South Africa received nearly half of the aid for energy over this period.
Of the regional and multilateral development banks and 10 countries examined for the study, China gave the most to the energy sector, providing $5bn a year, 88% of which was spent on fossil fuels. It did not appear to finance any renewable projects on the continent. Nearly three-quarters of the money supported oil and gas extraction, and another 13% supported coal-fired power generation.
After China came the World Bank Group (WBG), Japan and Germany. The report estimated the Bank financed mostly fossil fuel infrastructure over this period, although such lending is expected to fall after a recent announcement that it would end finance for upstream oil and gas from 2019.
A spokesman for the World Bank said that while it welcomed efforts to quantify public finance for energy in Africa, it disagreed with the methodology used in the report and the figures published for WBG.
He said: “The World Bank is committed to helping countries improve access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy in Africa and in other regions.”
He added that WBG had financed 25% of all the solar mini-grid projects in developing countries, mainly in Africa and South Asia, and was “on track to provide the total projected investment needed in off-grid solar home systems for the developing world over the next four years”.
He said the World Bank Group had exceeded the climate finance target it set for 2020, including by directly supporting or integrating 18 gigawatts of additional renewable energy into electricity grids and mobilising more than $10bn in commercial finance for clean energy over the past two years.