Malawi supports shared energy policies

By Thomas Kachere in Cape Town, South Africa:. He added that Africa should work on promoting renewable energy. “We, as Africa, are still on the way to energy transition and there are many challenges.

By Thomas Kachere in Cape Town, South Africa:

Energy Minister Ibrahim Matola has asked African countries to collaborate on energy policies if they are to address power challenges besetting the continent.

Matola said this on Tuesday during a ministerial panel discussion at the 15th Africa Energy Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa.

Energy policies are at the centre of discussion at the meeting.

“For example, African countries can concentrate on power-sharing initiatives to aid nations that produce the least energy to meet their demand. All of us need energy and it is a fact that everyone craves access to power,” Matola said.

He added that Africa should work on promoting renewable energy.

“We, as Africa, are still on the way to energy transition and there are many challenges.

“However, as we seek to ensure that everyone has access to electricity, we also need to ensure that the energy industry receives the largest share of the national budget in Africa,” he said.

Matola said this can be done if Africans promote regional integration.

“To do this, countries have to look into their policies in order to remove the burden of taxes— Value Added Tax— on renewable appliances so that middle and lower class people should be able to have appliances that use renewable sources. As such, we should invest in the renewable energy sector, which is also a cheaper source of energy,” Matola said.

On his part, South Africa’s Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Samson Gwede Mantashe said, much as it is important for Africa to adopt renewable energy, his position remains that coal use is equally beneficial.

He added that addressing the energy crisis in Africa will need reliable energy plants.

He said coal use should be regarded as one of the solutions to the energy crisis besetting many African countries.

The three-day indaba has attracted about 800 delegates from a number of countries.

It is taking place at a time South Africans and people in countries such as Malawi are feeling the pinch of power outages.