Green hydrogen is the future of Africa
Green hydrogen is the future of Africa
The climate summit will be held tomorrow – September 4 – in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, through which African countries seek to urgently address the increasing climate changes every day. It is expected that the solutions proposed will be innovative solutions, and among these solutions is the shift togreen hydrogen, which is considered the future of Africa, and this is something that Egyptian climate activists confirmed in Many international forums. At the head of these is Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, “the United Nations Special Envoy for Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the climate pioneer for the Egyptian presidency of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Climate Change Convention, COP27.”
Mohieldin considered green hydrogen a major engine in Africa’s move towards globalization, as it will become a global center for new and renewable energy. For this reason, Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin stipulated that the African continent be able to mobilize capital to enable it to achieve sustainable and comprehensive transformation.
The Egyptian climate pioneer’s calls were not limited to the “COP27” activities, which Egypt hosted last November in Sharm El-Sheikh; Rather, he spoke about this in other regional and global forums, to the point of his article published by “African Business” magazine, with the participation of Dr. Franny Lautier, “CEO of South Bridge Investments and lead expert for the independent review of capital adequacy frameworks for multilateral development banks,” where they agreed that the Nairobi summit should be a vision for growth and an environmentally friendly plan.
Regarding his call – that is, Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin – to adopt green hydrogen as a path to a sustainable world, he stressed that green hydrogen has a contribution to recrystallizing the concept of energy among all Africans, and that this will only happen through decarbonization of pivotal sectors.
Regarding the importance of green hydrogen, Mohieldin said: “It is capable of confronting climate change, and is also capable of providing four million jobs, which are jobs that green hydrogen production and processing projects in Africa can provide.”
He went on to discuss the importance of green hydrogen, as he explained that it is capable of putting Africa back on the map of the global economy, and then it will enable it to meet the economic and social needs of its people, as well as address energy poverty and advance development at the same time, and then the vision of Africa will be achieved.2063“.
But, how can green hydrogen energy achieve these African goals? Mohieldin replied that Africa has multiple energy sources, such as wind energy and solar energy, which are important elements to help achieve a comprehensive and equitable transition in the energy sector. Pointing out that this transformation will be through using these renewable resources to operate green hydrogen production plants.
On the other hand, Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin pointed out that the so-called “African Green Hydrogen Alliance” – an alliance that includes Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Kenya, Namibia and South Africa – can provide 4.2 million new jobs and raise the gross domestic product of the countries of this alliance by between 66 and 126 billion dollars by the year 2050. That is, the equivalent of 6 to 12% of its gross domestic product in the current period.
Mohieldin then made the end of his article a window into the challenges facing the transition to green hydrogen energy, and the most influential of these challenges on the course of climate action in general and the transition to green hydrogen in particular is financial support. Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin drew attention to the fact that African green hydrogen projects require cumulative investments amounting to $900 billion by 2050.
In the same context, he believed that mobilizing climate finance requires great efforts, and these efforts fall on the responsibility of financial institutions, the private sector, and civil society organizations. Stressing that Africa must oblige development and commercial banks to include green hydrogen in their green financing and investment classifications, such as green bonds, and other incentives for green hydrogen projects.
At the conclusion of the article, Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin indicated that although Europe’s goal now is to produce 10 million tons of green hydrogen by 2030; It has prepared the equipment and made plans to import it. Africa must also prepare to export it.
