John Kerry Backs Kyari, Tasks US To Pay For Africa’s Electricity Infrastructure

The U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry has joined the call for the United States to fund energy security in Africa as oil producers transit to net zero emission.

In what he described as climate emergency, the former United States secretary of state called on the United States to lead global transition by funding electricity projects in Africa.

He made the call at a recent John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum.

Kerry said, “I think, personally, we’re on the brink of needing to declare a climate emergency, which is what we really have.

“And we need to get people to behave as if this really is a major transitional challenge to the whole planet, to everybody.”

Amidst aggressive push away from fossil fuel, Africa has chosen 2060 as a preferred timeline for a just transition.

Some countries in the region, like Nigeria, have adopted gas as a transition fuel to power industries and provide energy security.

According to Kerry, it was America’s responsibility to pay for energy infrastructure in Africa because of the size of the U.S. economy.

Kerry said, “People in Africa who don’t have electricity need to choose the right kind of electricity, and we need to help them be able to afford it and do it.

“We have the largest economy in the world — $24tn or $23tn economy, maybe more by now. The next closest is China, at about $18tn and the next closest to the two of us — Germany and Japan at $4tn. That’s how far it drops down. You don’t think we have some sort of obligation out of that to be responsible? I think we do.”

Recall on the sidelines of 28th United Nations climate change conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd called for joint efforts to address energy poverty in Africa.

The GCEO said he has “always advocated for a differentiated and just energy transition. In Africa, we have different circumstances compared to other places in the world.

“In Africa today, 75 per cent of our population doesn’t have access to electricity, leaving us with biomass as a key energy source. The world needs to recognize that the most practicable thing today is to substitute what we have in the short term to close the energy gap for our rising population.”