Sustainable energy access for Africa: a win-win solution for climate and development

*By Fiona Lambe and Patricia Tella

A woman cooks using firewood           Photo courtesy

Supporting developing countries to scale-up access to sustainable energy for cooking will not only bring positive effects for climate change; it will improve the health and economy of the world’s most vulnerable households. What’s more, the cost of achieving universal energy access in the coming decades is surprisingly low.

It is difficult to imagine, but right now approximately two billion people, one third of humanity, do not have access to energy for their most basic needs such as cooking, lighting and heating. Not coincidently, this is the same one third that is currently living in extreme poverty. Access to clean and safe energy for cooking is essential for human development. No country in modern times has managed to reduce poverty and achieve economic development without increasing access to modern forms of energy. Without a massive scale up in access to clean and safe energy, the world’s poorest regions will remain trapped in poverty.

For most Swedes, cooking is an enjoyable pastime and something that is normally taken for granted.  We just flip a switch; turn a knob, and the stove turns own. However, for two thirds of the worlds’ population, this fundamental task is both a tiresome burden and a major health risk.

In Sub Saharan Africa, four out of five households do all their cooking over an open fire or using an inefficient wood or charcoal burning stove which exposes them to high levels of smoke and health damaging chemicals. They cook this way because they have very limited choice. Electricity is either unavailable - only 28% of SSA (excluding South Africa) is electrified - or unaffordable. Since the task of cooking usually falls to women and girls, it is they who face daily exposure to levels of pollution which are estimated to be the equivalent of consuming two packets of cigarettes a day (WHO, 2006).

The health impact of this exposure is devastating. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) smoke from domestic fires kills nearly two million people each year and sickens millions more. This is more than three people per minute. It is a death toll almost as great as that caused by dirty water and poor sanitation and AIDS, and greater than malaria. Without systematic changes, household biomass use will result in an estimated 8.1 million Lower Respiratory Infection (LRI) deaths among young children in sub-Saharan Africa alone between 2000 and 2030 (Bailis, Ezzati, Kammen, 2007, p 6).

These are indeed startling figures. So why isn’t more being done to tackle this problem? If indoor air pollution is responsible for more deaths globally than malaria each year, why don’t we see a global push for energy access similar in profile and funding to the global anti-malaria campaigns?

One answer is that until recently, there has been a marked lack of political will to acknowledge and tackle this glaring problem. This was made blatantly clear in September 2000 when heads of state from all over the world met to agree on eight specific targets for combating poverty, disease, illiteracy, hunger and environmental degradation. The deadline for achieving these eight ambitious Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is 2015 - just five years from now, but we are far from on track to meeting these targets. A major reason for this is that Energy Access was completely left out of the picture. Amazingly, there is no Millennium Development Goal on Energy, despite the fact that lack of access to clean and safe energy, especially for cooking, is a major impediment to meeting every one of the MDGs.

Now, with just over five years to go, we are beginning to see some momentum and a new global push to get energy access firmly on the development agenda. One major reason for this about turn is recognition of the enormous potential for so called “co-benefits”– additional or “bonus” opportunities for tackling climate change through projects designed to address the household energy problem in developing countries.

Cooking stoves and climate change

The same tiny particles from cooking fires that are linked to more than two million deaths annually are also contributing to climate change. Black carbon or soot is thought to be the second biggest contributor to global warming after CO2, and although dirty diesel engines, power plants and other more advanced technologies also produce black carbon, cooking fires appear to be the largest source of soot in developing nations. Several studies have indicated that reducing black carbon emissions may be among the most accessible, quick and cost effective actions to mitigate climate warming over the coming decades (e.g. Hansen et al.; Jacobson, 2002; Bond and Sun, 2005). 

CleanCook photo showing an Addis Ababa woman cooking on her two-burner CleanCook. On the right, she is using a traditionally rounded pot which is now held sturdily by the pot support.

Replacing inefficient cooking devices with cleaner stoves and fuels, while immediately improving the health and well being of the users, could also have a significant positive impact on global warming in a relatively short time frame. This is because, unlike carbon dioxide which can remain in the atmosphere for many decades, black carbon particles generally fall from the sky in days or weeks.

A wide range of new and improved cooking stoves, as well as cleaner fuels are currently being field tested – many of these show great potential for addressing the climate and health problems. One success story is that of the ethanol fuelled “CleanCook” stove, originally Swedish technology, in Ethiopia. Ethiopian NGO, Gaia Association has pilot tested these stoves in households in Addis Ababa and in a number of refugee camps with very positive results. Households are ready to switch completely to ethanol (which is locally produced from sugar cane residues) and the project will soon enter a commercial phase where the Swedish stoves will be produced and sold locally.

Although a global effort to roll out improved household energy programmes poses a number of challenges, relatively speaking, it is not an expensive project. The IEA, in its recently published World Energy Outlook estimated that universal access to clean cooking facilities could be achieved through additional cumulative investment on $56 million in 210-2030 (IEA, 2010). This investment is equivalent to 0.2% of the total projected global energy investment to 2030.

There is now widespread consensus among policy makers and the development community that addressing the energy access problem is a matter of urgency. In September 2010, the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves was officially launched by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. This is a $60 million dollar public-private partnership to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women and combat climate change by creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions. The Alliance’s goal is for 100 million homes to adopt clean and efficient stoves and fuels by 2020.

2010 also saw the launch of the Energy for All 2030 Project, an EU-wide initiative aimed at raising policy and public awareness about the issue of energy access for meeting the MDGs in SSA. In Sweden, Energy for All 2030 is being led by the Stockholm Environment Institute which is playing a leading role in highlighting these issues for Swedish and European Policy makers and supporting a platform for dialogue between African and European civil society. The SEI, together with UK partner, Practical Action recently met with the EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs to push for more policy focus and financing at the EU level for the goal of universal energy access. This political momentum is set to continue over the coming years and particularly in the run up to 2015 and the deadline for meeting the MDGs.

It remains to be seen if the energy access targets can be met within the given timeframes. But there is hope.  Prioritizing energy access as a key driver of social and economic development is undoubtedly the first step towards achieving universal energy access and there, at least, we have agreement. Now we need to see this consensus and support translate into action for the worlds’ poorest.

Energy for all 2030 is a Europe-wide project calling for more and better funding from the European Commission for energy access projects in Sub Saharan Africa. Support the Energy for All 2030 Project. Go to http://practicalaction.org/energy-advocacy/makethecall and pledge your support to make universal energy access a reality by 2030.

*The authors are Associate Researchers at Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) in Stockholm-Sweden. They can be contacted through their e-mails: Fiona Lambe (Fiona.lambe@sei.se) and Patricia Tella (patricia.tella@sei.se)

Ghana can industrialise with the right leadership, right policy and the political will

Addressing the closing ceremony of a workshop organized for NPP researchers from the ten regions Wednesday, Nana Addo, the Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party according to the NPP Communications Directorate is reported to have stated that “his party is preparing a comprehensive programme of industrialization and modernization that can transform Ghana’s economy in a matter of one decade.”

Itemizing the many natural resources such as gold, land, and now oil in addition to cocoa Nana Addo said:

“This newfound wealth presents an additional opportunity for a visionary leader with a programme to take critical steps to transform our economy. If we continued on the old path to rely on crude oil exports, we would end up getting the same low value economy that we have gotten from gold and cocoa over the last century. This must change.”
Drawing inspiration from Lula de Silva of Brazil Nana Addo added “With the right programme in place, in the next ten years, Ghana can become a self-sustainable, confident economy, in many ways, with an extensive, modern agricultural industry that will feed our neighbours and beyond.”
According to the NPP Communications Directorate Nana Addo told the cheering crowd that “Ghana has the landmass, natural resources, human resource, political stability, economic freedoms and individual freedoms that can be consciously optimized to transform our economy and bring prosperity to every Ghanaian door step. We must get going. We need that can-do leadership vim to get us going and fast,”

I do not doubt Ghana's ability to industrialize. What has been lacking since 1966 is the lack of leadership, policy and the political will to implement the needed policies. If Nkrumah could let it happen in Tema, Aboadze, Akosombo, Takoradi, Kumasi and Accra, I do not see why it cannot be done in Ho, Wa, and Tamale. What is needed is the political will. I thought the leaders who came after Nkrumah could do it but they simply lack the courage and the will to do it. No nation has ever solved her unemployment problem, built schools, roads, and houses or sent a man to the moon based on agriculture economy. From China to Hong Kong, to Malaysia to Singapore, South Korea to Taiwan the evidence is clear. It has been industrialization through technology acquisition and human capacity building. Ghana needs to do the same. Now that we have recognized that we need to industrialize we need to develop the strategies that will let it happen.

Lord Adusei

We are slowly moving towards a nuclear armageddon

The monumental weapon build up across the world does not only poses great danger to the world but will completely annihilate mankind from the face of the earth if activated. We have militarized the earth and now we are doing the same in space. There is a new arms race in Asia, and in the Middle East. Russia announced this month that it will spend 600 billion dollars updating its nuclear and submarine fleet. China's newly unveiled stealth bombers – 'Xian H-8 Stealth Bomber' have sent shockwaves to United States. I mean we have enough deadly weapons to destroy the entire human race. No one will be left if we activate all the deadly weapons.

After the 3rd world war there will be no human left to fight a 4th world war. While sections of the world's population wallow in poverty, hunger, malnutrition, and HIV/AIDS, cancers, Alzheimers, parkinson decimate the young and old the goverments around the world are building and storing up arms whose relevance to world peace is doutful. We are indeed slowly moving towards a nuclear armageddon.

Dictators on the run

Thanks to the "Third Industrial Revolution” which according to Joseph Nye is based on rapid technological advances in computers, communications, software",  smart phones, and advanced transportation systems poltical activists world wide are making illegitimate, undemocratic, and corrupt regimes highly uncomfortable and most of the dicators like Ben Ali of Tunisia, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Gaddafi of Libya are on the run. Countless anti-democratic governments in the Middle East have been forced to think twice and many have began to implement policies that will benefit their citizens.

That is how virtual power has done to our world.

Debating the Africa Union

As the divided Africa Union struggles to find solutions to the crises in Ivory Coast, Somalia, and DRC and remains completely silent over the crises in Libya, Tunisia,and Egypt, the questions many are asking are whether the AU will ever be counted upon as a body that should be taken serious at all and whether the AU can redeem its battered image?


Will Africa ever forge a common identity and defence policy? Can Africa recognise its strategic importance and can it ever take advantage of that strategic importance? Can the AU be made more democratic, more relevant and be more responsive to the needs of its citizens? What will be required to make Africa the next engine of global development?


The crises in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt have exposed the hollow in the Africa Union as a continental body that can respond to the challenges of the 21st Century and has created doubts in many who once believed in its capability to provide solutions to the problems facing the continent.


Lord Adusei

Ghana: Our destiny is not poverty

On 6th March 2011 during the independence celebration I spoke to many Ghanaians and everyone has something to say about the poor state of the economy, the lack of effective leadership, the poor delivery of public services, the lack of unity among the youth, the corruption at CEPS, the begging mentality of the politicians, the sycophancy of our ministers etc.


Someone asked "When are we going to stand up and say enough is enough? So there is no one in the ruling NDC who is visionary enough to lead the party and take advantage of the huge benefit Ghana is getting from the sale of gold, cocoa, and oil?"


Another also asked"So there is no one in the NPP who shares the visions that led Dr. Nkrumah to build Tema City, Akosombo dam, KNUST, Cape Coast University, and the factories that employed many Ghanaians?"


One also asked "Why do we mine gold yet we beg for silver? Why do we produce cocoa yet we beg for chocolate?"


Another poignantly asked "Is poverty our destiny?"


My answer is: No. Our destiny is not poverty.
Our major problem is: Leadership!!! We are poor because of leadership. Leadership has affected the way we think as Ghanaians. It has affected the way we see ourselves now as Ghanaians and even the future as Ghanaians. It has affected the way we craft economic and education policies. It has affected the way we embark on infrastructure development. It has affected the way we fight poverty and corruption, and the way we embark on industrial development. Nations and institutions blossom when there is effective leadership. I saw it in Nkrumah. I have seen it in Kofi Annan and in Dr. Afari Gyan of Ghana's Electoral Commission. 


Let us get a visionary leader like Nkrumah and there will be another Akosombo dam, another Tema city, several secondary schools, and several factories for our unemployed youth to work. Let us get a visionary leader and the children selling ice water in Accra, Kumasi, Tema and Takoradi will be in the classroom learning. As of last month Akuffo Addo was talking about Akans instead of Ghanaians. That is how our leaders think. 


It is our duty to train the next generation of leaders who will truly love Ghana and develop it for all its citizens.
You can be the next effective leader of our dear Republic only and only if you do not see Ghana in terms of tribes, in terms of party politics, in terms of north and south, east and west, in terms of language and in terms of ...You can be the next leader if you see Ghana in terms of its total development i.e. building its roads, schools, industries, telecommunication infrastructure, housing, health, and making the benefits trickle down to all its citizens irrespective of where ones live.


How would you have managed Ghana if you were President Mills? Would you have used our gold, our oil, our rich land, the sea and rivers to develop Ghana? Would you have built another factory to process the tomatoes that get rotten anytime there is bumper harvest? Would you have improved the railway infrastructure in Accra, Kumasi, Tamale, and in Wa etc to take care of the congestion in our cities? Would you have worked hard to get another Akosombo dam to take care of our growing demand for electricity? Would you have exported raw gold to London or would you have added value to it before export? How about Cocoa would you have exported the raw beans to Holland? What would you have done if you were President Mills? Would you have appointed all your ministers from the NDC?


By Lord Aikins Adusei

Social Movements versus Corporate Greed

The power of Social Movements is growing and it is putting governments,corporations,global institutions (IMF,World Bank,WTO) and market systems (capitalism:free market, globalisation) on their toes. The Social Movements are serving as the antibodies of our threatened world. They are protecting the earth from toxins of globalisation,corporate greed, unfair trade, huge subsidies in the global north, carbon emission and environmental degradation that is wiping off livelihoods of the poor in the global south.

Thanks to Global Witness, Global Financial Integrity, Transparency International, Green Peace, Friends of the Earth and many indigenous movements in Africa, Asia and Larin America the corporations are accounting for the pollution they cause around the world.