UN Environment (2017) published a new report Atlas of Africa: Energy Resources. The report covers a wealth of data from 54 African countries on their current and future energy needs, the energy exploitation potential of the continent and the environmental impact of the development of the energy sector in Africa. It highlights the need for sustainable infrastructure for many parts of the continent. For example, “an average of only 34 per cent of hospitals and 28 per cent of health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa have reliable electricity access; about 58 per cent of health care facilities have no electricity at all” (UN Environment, 2017).
The research also presents the case for investment in renewable energy infrastructure and illustrates that an investment of about USD 43 billion to 44 billion per year is needed until 2030–2040 to ensure we meet the growing electricity demand. The current amount invested per year in the energy sector, however, only amounts to USD 8 billion to 9.2 billion.