Africa: What Alternatives to Oil?

World crude oil prices jumped from less than US$40 a barrel in 2004 to nearly $70 in September 2006. With expectations of increasing global demand, especially from China, experts predict that prices will remain relatively high for the next few years.

That is good news for the 13 African countries which are net oil exporters, but for the 42 others that need to buy oil from other countries, higher prices are creating serious challenges. If a country has to spend more to buy oil, it has less money to buy other items it must obtain from overseas. Businesses that rely heavily on energy and transportation are hit especially hard, making it difficult for them to produce goods affordably. This can lead companies to reduce production and to let staff go.
Africa, however, does not need to rely solely on oil. It has rich reserves of natural resources which can allow it to run its economies without depending on oil. Some African countries have already begun switching to non-oil energy sources, such as “biofuels,” natural gas, solar power (generated from the sun) and hydro-power created by the rushing of water through turbines placed in rivers. All of these produce less pollution than does oil. Although natural gas is, like oil, a fossil fuel, it does burn more cleanly. It is also easy to transport over long distances through pipelines.

Which form of alternative energy a country develops will depend on its particular circumstances. One thing is clear – if global oil prices remain high, more of Africa’s poorer, oil-importing countries will have to face the fact that it is more expensive to do nothing than to live with stalled economic growth and even more poverty.

AllAfrica