China-africa clean energy cooperation is gaining momentum

In September, the African Development Bank committed an additional $12.5 billion for renewable energy applications under the African Adaptation Accelerator.

Thanks to its huge resource potential, Africa is in the ascendency of its renewable energy industry. Data show that in recent years, Africa's installed solar and wind power capacity has maintained double-digit growth.

That determination is matched by the fact that Africa is late to renewable energy and fossil fuel power is still the main source of power. For Africa, which is dominated by developing countries, energy transformation still faces many challenges. How to help Africa achieve leapfrog development in energy and how to cooperate with Africa in industry to help achieve energy development goals are important issues of common concern to the international community, including China.

Africa has the opportunity to develop its renewable energy industry on a large scale, which is critical to mitigating global warming, supporting the continent's economic development and lifting millions out of poverty.

"Tanzania has very rich solar energy resources, with project development potential of about 10 gigawatts." Dr. Richard Muyungi, President of the International Institute for Environmental Sustainable Development (IEDS), said at the recently held Symposium on China-Africa Renewable Energy Cooperation that some African countries have made significant progress in renewable energy projects. Some African countries, such as   Egypt, Ethiopia and Kenya, have formulated strategies and targets to support the   development of renewable energy, which also provides opportunities for Chinese companies to invest in renewable energy projects in Africa and carry out green energy cooperation with relevant countries.

At present, global energy cooperation is in a golden opportunity for complementarity and further development. As the world's largest renewable energy market and equipment manufacturer, China has huge market demand and mature energy technology, equipment, manufacturing and engineering systems, which provide necessary conditions for China-Africa cooperation on renewable energy.

However, there are still obstacles and limitations to China-Africa renewable   energy cooperation as African countries face climate change, conflicts over energy access and resource conservation, as well as the stability of the continent's political environment and regulations at the economic level. At present, China-Africa industrial cooperation is still dominated by aid and trade.

Ding Shineng, deputy director of the Center for Foreign Cooperation and Exchange and the Center for China-Africa Environmental Cooperation under the Ministry of   Ecology and Environment, pointed out that there are problems that Chinese enterprises have not established a sound electricity tariff charging mechanism and project operation mode is unclear when carrying out renewable energy cooperation projects in Africa. From the perspective of project sustainability, most of the domestic enterprises involved in the cooperation prefer to focus on the construction of large projects, while ignoring the establishment of "small but beautiful" projects.

"From the situation of the partner countries of the South-South Cooperation Center project, it is difficult to attract domestic companies to participate in some renewable energy cooperation projects in Africa due to their small scale." Liu Xin, project coordinator of the South-South Cooperation Center for Technology Transfer at the China   Agenda 21 Management Center under the Ministry of Science and Technology, agrees. She told reporters that for Chinese enterprises, trade cooperation with Africa is still at the stage of "helping more than helping less". The biggest difficulty lies in how to enable enterprises of both sides to obtain more support in terms of capital, technology and talents so as to achieve win-win results.

In fact, the foundation of China-Africa trade is very solid. China has been Africa's   largest trading partner for 14 years in a row. From the perspective of international energy cooperation, compared with aid and trade, local African countries currently hope that through renewable energy project cooperation, foreign investors can introduce advanced technologies in local investment, promote employment and promote social and economic development.

Although green and low-carbon development has become a global consensus,   Africa's energy transformation cannot be accomplished overnight, and the whole industrial chain needs a process to be rolled out. It is particularly important to establish a sound and sound cooperation mechanism to promote the development of China-Africa renewable energy.

"In the future industrial cooperation between China and Africa, the problem of information barriers and information gaps should be solved, and the industries and enterprises should strengthen cooperation and realize the loop-breaking cooperation." Mr. Wang Luo, director of the Institute of International Development Cooperation at the Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, believes that China's biggest comparative advantage is industrial cooperation, because its huge market share and strong manufacturing strength are the basis for promoting cross-border and trans-regional cooperation.

"The current international situation is grim and complex, and cooperation among developing countries needs to change their thinking, and seeking win-win development is the common goal." Li Dan, executive secretary General of the renewable Energy Committee of China Circular Economy Association, introduced that the core issues of deepening industrial cooperation mainly include policies, projects and mechanisms. Africa's industrial base is relatively weak, but it still needs to pay attention to the market, capital and human resources, build appropriate platforms and channels to solve problems in industrial cooperation, and do a good job in training and building local human resources.

The reporter learned that in recent years, the China Circular Economy Association has carried out a series of work on China-Africa renewable energy cooperation projects.   Through the establishment of China-Africa partnership and joint research, policy   recommendations and industrial guidance will be formed to create a policy foundation conducive to the development of renewable energy in Africa, reduce the cost of business run-in and strengthen the foundation of industrial cooperation. At the same time, relying on the project to attract capital and technology, and cultivate the industrial chain.

On this basis, the China-Africa Renewable Energy Development Initiative Plan jointly proposed by the Renewable Energy Committee of the China Circular Economy   Association, the Climate Work Foundation, the African Climate Foundation and the World Resources Institute will be released soon. The plan aims to mobilize the participation capacity of government departments and multilateral institutions through the establishment of an institutional platform to bring all parties into the mechanisms related to energy cooperation in Africa, identify needs, explore models and disseminate technologies.

It is the common vision of China and Africa to promote the leapfrog development of renewable energy in Africa. Li Dan pointed out that the establishment of the China-Africa cooperation platform will better help Africa connect resources with more international platforms and help Chinese enterprises find more partners. Through cooperation and exchanges, all parties can avoid the existing thinking mode of international cooperation, and promote the solid implementation of industrial cooperation and project docking, which will contribute to the realization of China-Africa renewable energy   cooperation.