#9A: Why Africa Needs Energy for their 2063 Development Agenda (Commentary)
Glad to see you again! (or, if you’re new to this blog, welcome!)
This blog article will serve as a commentary on the following research paper [link temporarily redacted for privacy issues], conducted by myself, exploring ‘The Potential Impact of Sustainable Energy on African Development in Light of Africa’s Development Agenda 20163’.
While the full research paper is highly technical, I thought it best to develop a more colloquial commentary, and remark some of the most important aspects of the work. The commentary below is also written as an impartial reader so you might see me referring to myself as “the author” as I’m trying to provide as unbiased a commentary as I can [still weird though]
If you are interested in learning further, please click the link above and give my paper a read! Without further ado, let’s dive right in.
The research paper in questions examines the potential impact of the implementation of sustainable energy resources on African development. The analysis is carried out from the perspective of both the Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2063 for African Development. Primarily, the research paper analyzes the ways in which a variety of different development targets can be more efficiently attained through the use of renewable energy, rather than relying on unsustainable methods of energy production.
The paper also addresses the primary methods of implementation for these different sustainable energy types, and strategically scrutinizes the successes and failures of two case studies, in an attempt to determine whether or not sustainable energy can and should play a role in Africa’s current development strategy. It also considers the parallels between the Agenda 2063 for African Development and current sustainable energy practices within the continent.
However, it should also be noted that the analysis is heavily political, with few references to economic obstacles. This is quite obviously a limitation of the research, and it is recommended for the author to pursue an extension which considers the relevant economic obstacles and incentives.
Background on the Sustainable Development Goals:
In 2015, the United Nations released the Sustainable Development Goals. Also known as the Global Goals, this set of 17 Goals, each with its own specific targets, would set the agenda for a 15-year period of multilateral work towards achieving sustainable development. Through working with civil society, specialized agencies and key UN organs, countries would completely alter their current development processes, in order to attain each of the targets for Sustainable Development. As this ambitious plan was centered on the principle of sustainability, it would impact all nations, including those that were considered “developed” by previous standards.
Background on African Development and Agenda 2063:
The paper notes how, as always, the emphasis for the SDGs is placed on developing nations, particularly in the African continent. The point is made that for African countries, sustainable development would prove itself incredibly difficult to attain, if a clear plan was not set, from the beginning. While the United Nations had set the deadline to 2030, the African Union, the continent’s key multilateral governing body, had different ideas. Just two years prior to the establishment of the UN’s plan of action on sustainable development, the African Union itself had released its own idea of what sustainable should look like, focused and centralized on specific problems within the continent.
However, the deadline was very different, and as the document’s name suggested, the “Agenda 2063 for Sustainable Development” was set to attain completion a full 33 years after the United Nations had set their deadline. This wide discrepancy sparked an era of debate. Would Africa be able to attain the Sustainable Development Goals? Or would they be left behind, and only reach true development by the year 2063?
This serves as the end of part one of my commentaries/summaries. I hope you have enjoyed it so far. The reason for my cutting this post into two sections is that a recent study carried out by Medium indicates that users begin to click off after blog posts get longer than seven minutes. And obviously, I want all of you to stick around to the end of each post. Sorry for the inconvenience, but you can just click here to be taken straight to the second part of my commentary. Thanks for reading!
