TRUMP SUPPORTIVE OF FOSSIL FUELS
Across Africa, about 600 million people lack access to electricity.
The continent has also borne the brunt of the climate change crisis, with its warming trend more rapid than the global average. These have made the transition to renewable energy an urgent necessity.
According to figures from the United Nations Development Programme, African nations need US$2.8 trillion by 2030 to mitigate climate risks.
The US plays a key role in supporting the continent to this end. Under the current Biden administration, US$100 million in direct loans was issued to support off-grid clean energy infrastructure, which forms part of a much larger slate of climate assistance to the continent.
However, fears have now emerged of these programmes being cancelled should former president – and current Republican candidate – Donald Trump win a second term as president.
Africans never had to worry about the US presidential election outcome before he came along in 2016.
In previous times, regardless of who was in the White House, America generally had a bipartisan consensus towards its policy on Africa. This usually involved development aid, support for good governance and green transition, and preferential trade deals.
Trump has long been sceptical of global warming, having gutted all funding from the United States Agency for International Development for climate programmes in Africa when he was in office.
While on the campaign trail this year, he has made his support for fossil fuels loud and clear, promising to dismantle many of Biden’s green energy policies.
“Those policies that seek to address energy concerns or energy challenges in Africa would be curtailed or wouldn’t have the same amount of attention if Donald Trump becomes President, compared to Kamala (Harris) who’s a Democrat and naturally believes in addressing climate change across the world, including Africa,” said Etse Sikanku, a senior lecturer and head of the Directorate for Research, Innovations & Development at the Ghana Institute of Journalism.
