Category: Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

The UAE has been a first mover on sustainability 2/1/2023

The UAE has been a first mover on sustainability

Payne Institute Advisory Board Member Nawal Al-Hosany writes an opinion article on how the term sustainability didn’t enter the UAE discourse until the 1980s, but has always been at the heart of the country’s development plans.  From an ever-more conscious civil society to governments responsible for planning the long-term prosperity of their citizens, we are all thinking of ways we can meet the needs of today, without compromising the capacities of future generations to thrive. It is fitting then, that with Cop28 to be hosted in the Emirates later this year, the country’s leadership announced 2023 as the Year of Sustainability.  February 1, 2023.  

Policy Guidelines for Accelerating the Energy Transition in Sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons from the Mobile Telecoms Sector 1-26-2023

Policy Guidelines for Accelerating the Energy Transition in Sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons from the Mobile Telecoms Sector

Payne Institute ESG Research Associate Baba Freeman writes about how Sub-Saharan Africa faces immense challenges in its bid to attract capital to develop its energy resources and grow its economy. Relative to the pace of market penetration of cell phone services in the recent past, the growth in the share of the population with access to electricity has been rather dismal. The comparisons between both sectors are not new and have been made repeatedly over the years. This commentary recognizes that there are substantial differences between both sectors that make direct comparisons and a transfer of policy lessons difficult.  January 26, 2023.

Pakistan’s power outage on January 23, 2023 1/24/2023

Pakistan’s power outage on January 23, 2023

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group researcher Tilottama Ghosh and Director Christopher Elvidge write about how millions of people in Pakistan were reported to be without electric power on during the day on Monday, January 23, 2023 when electricity was turned off Sunday night to conserve energy. The next morning, technicians were unable to restart the system in the dawn hours and the power remained off during much of the day on January 23.  January 24, 2023.

CRITICAL MINERALS & ENERGY TRANSITION A LOOK AT AFRICA & WESTERN & CENTRAL ASIA 1/5/2023

CRITICAL MINERALS & ENERGY TRANSITION – A LOOK AT AFRICA & WESTERN & CENTRAL ASIA

The Payne Institute and the Future Minerals Forum collaborate on this paper about how as energy systems evolve on a global scale, the shift to a clean energy economy will depend on fulfilling critical mineral supply needs. Demand for raw materials such as Lithium, Nickel, Cobalt, Copper, Graphite, Silicon, Platinum Group Metals, and Rare Earth Elements are expected to increase fivefold over the next two decades. To meet the level of demand set forth in the Paris Agreement, the world looks to mineral-rich countries for reliable sourcing of inputs along the value chain. In the short to medium term, economies across Africa and Western and Central Asia can aim to play an important role in critical minerals supply chains. January 5, 2023.  

Africa’s Energy Sector Is in Need of Practical, and Not Reactionary, Solutions at the US and African Leaders Summit in Washington DC

Africa’s Energy Sector Is in Need of Practical, and Not Reactionary, Solutions at the US and African Leaders Summit in Washington DC

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Fellow Ben Attia contribute to this article about how like previous meetings between American and African Leaders, the events of the highly anticipated Africa Leaders’ Summit, taking place Dec. 13-15 in Washington, D.C., will show America’s earnest and enduring commitment to Africa in the broad sense. The African Continent, some organizers have said, will shape the future of the world. They will be determined to effect positive change on everything from African governance and human rights to food security and education.  December 9, 2022.  

Saudi Arabia’s Future Minerals Forum partners with global think tanks ahead of January conference 12/5/2022

Saudi Arabia’s Future Minerals Forum partners with global think tanks ahead of January conference

Saudi Arabia’s global conference Future Mineral Forum has partnered a host of major think tanks to drive innovation and thought leadership, according to a statement.  Launched in 2022 by the Kingdom’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, the FMF has now joined forces with the Development Partner Institute, the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, Clareo, and the Payne Institute at the Colorado School of Mines.  Through these partnerships with the think tanks and research institutions, the FMF is targeting to provide dynamic insights that propel the development of the industry in line with strict environmental, social and governance principles. December 5, 2022. 

Climate Change: Toward a More Resilient Africa 11/29/2022

Climate Change: Toward a More Resilient Africa

Payne Institute Fellow Jamal Saghir and Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez write about how the impacts of the climate emergency continue to intensify in Africa, compounding and amplifying other crises. Africa can still prosper and thrive in a world of climate change. This development is dependent on understanding, preparing, and adapting to oncoming climate impacts.  November 29, 2022.

A New Paradigm for Managing Mineral Trade Routes in Africa 11/16/2022

A New Paradigm for Managing Mineral Trade Routes in Africa

Payne Institute ESG Research Associate Baba Freeman writes about how the African Copper belt is a major supplier of key minerals such as Copper, Nickel, and Cobalt to the world economy. Extracting and transporting these minerals to market will be essential to the success of the energy transition as demand for solar and wind energy, and battery metals soar exponentially over the next three decades. In contrast, the dismal state of road infrastructure for transporting the minerals from mine to port creates a major impediment to the commercial competitiveness of miners in the region and threatens economic rents accruable to host countries and communities. This commentary describes a new paradigm that could radically transform the design of solutions to ease logistics problems in the region.  November 16, 2022.

Africa’s Energy Transition & Critical Minerals 11/3/2022

Africa’s Energy Transition & Critical Minerals

Payne Institute Critical Minerals Research Associate Caitlin McKennie and student researchers Al Hassan Hassan, and Mama Nissi Abanga Abugnaba write about how as the energy crisis perseveres and governments around the world attempt to meet net zero emission timelines, there are many eyes on Africa’s natural resource supply. Africa is resource rich. The continent is endowed with significant hydrocarbon reserves and critical minerals required for low-carbon technologies. As political and environmental developments around the world seek to decarbonize supply chains, pivoting investments over time towards critical minerals in Africa can help and bridge the gap between emerging/developing economies and energy security.  November 3, 2022.  

Africa needs context-relevant evidence to shape its clean energy future 10/24/2022

Africa needs context-relevant evidence to shape its clean energy future

Payne Institute Advisory Board member Youba Sokona and other authors write about how aligning development and climate goals means Africa’s energy systems will be based on clean energy technologies in the long term, but pathways to get there are uncertain and variable across countries. Although current debates about natural gas and renewables in Africa are heated, they largely ignore the substantial context specificity of the starting points, development objectives and uncertainties of each African country’s energy system trajectory. Here they—an interdisciplinary and majority African group of authors—highlight that each country faces a distinct solution space and set of uncertainties for using renewables or fossil fuels to meet its development objectives.  October 24, 2022.