Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resource Tarek El Molla highlighted  the strong support and momentum that Egyptian President Abdelfattah El Sisi’s vision for energy transition in Africa is gaining.

This came during his participation at the International Energy Agency’s conference “Post COP 26 Priorities: Supporting Africa’s Clean Energy Transitions”. He also highlighted the importance of the conference, session, and the message of support that it carries for the African continent and its vision for the energy transition. He added that Africa is a continent that is in rich natural resources, in addition to new and renewable sources of energy.

However, El Molla pointed out that Africa still lags behind in its economic development and prosperity, with more than 600 million Africans suffering from energy poverty, adding that the continent still relies heavily on primitive or primary energy resources.

El Molla elaborated that Africa’s energy transition can play an important role in eliminating energy poverty, especially given that new and renewable energies will not be sufficient to satisfy the continent’s growing energy demand. He indicated that fossil fuels are an essential source of income for several African countries, adding that this could help these states obtain the financing and technology needed for clean energy and capacity building.

In his speech during the conference, El Molla emphasized that the fruitful relations between the International Energy Agency and the African Union Commission should be used to prepare a roadmap, deliver tailored solutions, as well as provide the necessary technologies and financing to support Africa’s energy transition and to have a successful outcome at the UN Climate Change Conference 2022 (COP 27).