South Africans are very fortunate to have Gwede Mantashe, a polititian who actually stands up and fights for African economic development and against Eurocentric energy policies!
re posted from News24
“I see the protests outside this venue that said ‘fossil fuels a killer’, but I can tell you that hunger kills faster”.
“We have seen the increase of coal purchasing from us to EU growing eightfold, 780%. As they take our coal, they at the same time tell us to move out of it quickly. That is a contradiction that Africa must look at”
Fossil fuels kill, but hunger kills faster, Mantashe tells conference
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe says the African continent should not be dictated to when it comes to the pace of its energy transition. This as a R150 billion funding deal from rich countries to help fund South Africa’s transition from coal hangs in the balance.
In an address to the 2022 Africa Oil Week in Cape Town on Tuesday, Mantashe said the war in Ukraine has hit developing economies with high energy costs, along with increasing food prices and interest rates.
He said the climate change question “sits uncomfortably with energy poverty”, adding that the pressure on African economies to decarbonise quickly will expose it to the risk that its people will not have access to reliable and affordable energy if handled with haste.
“We have seen the increase of coal purchasing from us to EU growing eightfold, 780%. As they take our coal, they at the same time tell us to move out of it quickly. That is a contradiction that Africa must look at,” he said.
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