While Africa seeks to meet its commitment to providing universal access to electricity by 2030, the continent would have to deal with the reality of climate change and powering its economic growth, Energy and Minerals Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said.
He was speaking at the African Energy Week, a four day conference being held in Cape Town, to explore ways to meet the continent's commitments to reducing energy poverty by 2030 while driving an enabling environment for investments.
Ironically on Tuesday loadshedding was moved to stage 4 as Eskom struggles to keep the power on.
Statistics by the International Energy Agency (IEA) show that about 600 million people, at least 43 % of the population across the continent, almost double the size of the population of the United States (US), still had no access to electricity.
A further 900 million, almost twice the population of the European Union (EU)lacked access to clean cooking fuels and technologies.
Mantashe said countries across the continent recognised that energy was a catalyst for economic growth and development and the biggest hindrance was access to energy.
"An economy with no energy cannot serve the interests of any nation and is thus destined to collapse. Therefore, there can be no Africa we want without a stable economy that will deliver inclusive growth," said Mantashe.
He also called on leaders in Africa to "drive" the pursuit for energy access for the people and create
He said while Africa was committed to dealing with climate change through moving from high carbon to low carbon emissions, the transition should take into cognisance what technologies could be used to maximise value from the existing natural resources and to the needs of communities.
About 75 % of South Africa's electricity is generated by coal and Mantashe warned that this could not just be changed without finding alternative plans to ensure security of supply.
Mantashe said the Russia-Ukraine conflict had resulted in an increase in the demand for South African fossil energy.
"Our coal sales to Europe have grown eightfold in the first half of 2022 by up to 720 % compared to last year."
Regarding South Africa's partnership with the US and the EU to help the country transition from coal, Mantashe said about R131 billion has been received.
"However, in 2021 the turnover of the coal industry was about R130 billion. So we were actually told to leave coal for a R1 billion difference. It doesn't make sense. These partnerships must speak to our programmes and not somebody else's programme ," said Mantashe.
He said South Africa's energy mix would also include nuclear and renewables.
"The Koeberg power station gives us energy at 40 cents a unit and Eskom sells a unit at R1. Nuclear is the most cost efficient. It's important to supplement our energy with nuclear power," said Mantashe.
President of African Energy Chamber NJ Ayuk said while the oil and gas industry had come under severe attack, it had powered economies around the world.
"We do not need to apologise for wanting to use our natural resources. Energy poverty and climate change are two sides of the coin. We need to address both together . We are not going to produce any energy without drilling. We need to explore more," said Ayuk.
A group of climate change activists, Extinction Rebellion Cape Town, held a demonstration outside the venue calling for investment in renewable energy.
"We believe it has the potential to supply cheaper, cleaner, safer and people-centred energy.
"We reject the fossil fuel industry's drive to expand in Africa when African people are suffering from the climate impacts of the industry," said spokesperson Judy Scott-Goldman.