Improving energy infrastructure on the African continent will unleash investments, drive jobs and drive down pollution, US Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman argued at the recent Power-Gen Africa conference, in Cape Town.

An upbeat Poneman said, while energy costs in Africa were among the highest in the world, it was the continent offering the most opportunity.

“No continent is more exciting and has more potential and opportunities than Africa.”

He told around 3 000 key power stakeholders from across the world that, on the back of President Barack Obama’s visit to South Africa last year, he was keen to deepen US relations with African countries in the field of energy.

Poneman, who is also in South Africa to meet South Africa’s Minister of Energy, said he planned a US-Africa Energy Ministerial meeting in Addis Ababa in June this year, where initiatives would be mapped out.

“It is up to each of us to work together as partners to power Africa and build a prosperous low-carbon future for us all. We have the potential to reach hundreds of millions of people in Africa without electricity.”

Poneman said there was a great need to improve energy efficiency in many African countries.

“The cheapest power is the power you save,” he quipped.

He said Africa had the advantage of being able to build much of its energy infrastructure on a clean slate.

“You don’t need to begin with the hodgepodge of regulatory overlapping and old copper systems. You can take advantage of technology and do things far more efficiently.”

He said the US had learnt valuable lessons from Hurricane Sandy, which hit the East Coast of the US. He said the authorities had been caught off guard with its grid not being resilient enough.

“We’ve learnt about the wisdom of creating a resilient grid and you could apply many of those principles here. Don’t retread our steps. Do it right right here,” he said.

Poneman lauded the benefits of renewable energy, saying costs had been slashed over the past few years.

He said solar photovoltaic panels were one per cent of the price they were in 1980, representing 40% of new power generated in the US last year.

“We’ve doubled our installed wind and solar capacity from 2008 to 2012. President Obama has challenged us to double this again by 2020.”

He said African countries needed to keep up with the demand for electricity, which is set to double.

“There will be win-win opportunities between US and African business. We need to work together to seize the opportunities and bring together the right players . . . so that we have concrete actions to drive economic growth in Africa.”