World Bank, others handcuff Africa on energy
Kim |
Jim Yong Kim, President, World
Bank, has disclosed that African leaders have approached him that they need
more support to provide baseload power in their countries.
According to him, they told him
it’s wrong for institutions like the World Bank to tell them they cannot use
fossil fuels for baseload electricity.
“You’ve come to us in Africa who
have put almost none of the carbon in the air and you tell us we can’t have
baseload electricity. You’re outraged by climate change, we have almost no
responsibility for putting the carbon in the air and yet you’re telling us we
can’t develop and have baseload energy because we can’t use a single drop of
fossil fuel for our own energy needs. And I can tell you, when I hear that from
our leaders, from people in industry, in places like Africa, it’s compelling to
me,” Kim said.
“We feel that you have to listen
to the social justice arguments from people from poor countries who have not
put any of the carbon in the air and want to have baseload,” he added.
An estimated 1.1 billion people –
14% of the global population – don’t have access to electricity, according to the
International Energy Agency.
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