Should Africa be generating much of Europe's power?

Two hugely ambitious power-generating schemes have been launched in recent weeks, one offering to create the world’s largest solar farm and the other to create the biggest hydroelectric dam on the planet. In both cases the location for the mega-projects is Africa: the solar-power scheme envisages harnessing the sun in the Moroccan and/or Algerian Sahara; while the hydroelectric plan centres on damming the mighty Congo River. What the two projects have in common is that they seek to export the majority of the power they intend to generate from impoverished countries to more developed economies. In the case of the Sahara to Southern Europe and in the case of Congo to South Africa, foreign mining interests inside the Democratic Republic of Congo and again, Europe. Even in the best-case scenario neither project will be up and running for 15 years.
Should Europe be allowed to continue its power-generating schemes in Africa?

Yes…

*Europe needs renewable energy and Africa needs massive investment, it’s a win-win situation

*The Sahara is empty and barraged with more solar power every morning than Europe needs in a year

*A new grand dam on the Congo River would power up to 500 million African homes

No…

*These mega-schemes are huge indirect subsidies from rich nations to multinationals seeking mega-profits

*The centralised grand designs don’t meet Africa’s dispersed power needs and are a huge distraction

*Africa is full of Western-funded white elephants, two of them already on the Congo River

The Independent