Africa nations pursue “clean energy corridor”

The energy ministers of 19 African countries have endorsed an action plan by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to take advantage of the African continent’s renewable energy potential through the creation of an “African Clean Energy Corridor.” Such a corridor, aimed at developing sources of wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and hydroelectric power, would “provide the continent with the opportunity to leapfrog into a sustainable energy future,” said Adnan Amin, IRENA’s director general, during the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi at the end of January. “The dynamic development that Africa will see in the next decades needs to extend to the energy sector, and Africa’s abundant renewable energy resources are a perfect match to meet rising demand in a sustainable and cost-effective way, from Cairo to Cape Town,” Amin added.