Kenya’s President William Ruto opened the Africa Energy Forum, aef2023 that kicked off in Nairobi on Tuesday.
President Ruto rallied Africa to be part of the Climate Action conversation and offer solutions that the world yearns for.
“The purpose of this forum is to share this secret, which is hidden in plain sight, with a broader global audience of investors and innovators: The Future is powered by African Energy,” said Ruto.
In the discourse about energy and climate change, he added, “it is impossible to be neutral, or disinterested: We can be part of the problem and at the same time contribute to its solution in varying ways.”
According to Ruto, Africa continues to bear the burden of Climate Change, despite its small contribution to the scourge.
“Africa, with 16.7% of world population, has historically been the world’s smallest contributor to the problem, cumulatively emitting less than 2.9% of greenhouse gas emissions.
At the same time, Africa bears the disproportionate burden of the adverse impacts of climate change, including extreme weather phenomena whose devastating consequences range from drought and starvation to floods, landslides and water borne diseases as well as massive destruction of property, infrastructures and livelihoods,” he explained.
Ruto lauds Kenya’s Green Energy efforts during aef2023
Nairobi is hosting the aef2023 conference, which is taking place in mainland Africa for the very first time.
“I also want to state that Africa will remain an indispensable player in global transitions to climate action, new industrialization and green energy for a while and for this very reason, will highly reward investors who are making their moves now or very shortly.
The opportunities are vast,” said Ruto as he addressed delegated at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.
In his address to the delegates, the Kenyan leader lauded Kenyan efforts in embracing green energy and converging towards Climate Action.
“Kenya’s experience of energy sector potential, policies, investment opportunities and projects exemplify the huge possibilities within the African energy and climate action complex. Allow me to illustrate,” President Ruto noted.
He explained that Kenya invested in the development of its renewable energy potential at a time when it was not fashionable to do so.
As such, he added, “The decision has paid off: Renewable sources form 73 % of our installed electricity generation capacity, accounting for over 90 % of electricity generated and distributed in the country.”
Moreover, this year’s aef2023 offers a networking opportunity for industry players to connect, exchange insights, and explore new financing models.
Here is the full speech of President William Ruto during the opening of Africa Energy Forum.