By Gifty Amofa, GNA
Accra, Feb. 27, GNA – Professor Ivan Cardillo, Founder of the Institute of Chinese Law, has stated that Africa can shape its energy future without replicating fossil-based infrastructure, drawing lessons from China’s clean energy expansion.
He said by investing in transmission for variable renewables, Africa could bypass some intensive stages, as in the case of China.
Professor Cardillo made the remarks at a webinar titled Toward a Shared Green Future: China, Africa, and the Strategic Reconfiguration of Global Energy Transmission, organised by the Africa-China Centre for Policy and Advisory (ACCPA) and the Institute of Chinese Law.
He said over the past decade China had become the first nation to exceed one terawatt of solar capacity and had integrated wind, hydro and transmission technologies into a unified grid strategy through deliberate policy frameworks, industrial planning and significant investment in electricity transmission networks.
He added that the rapid build-out was not accidental and offered critical lessons for African grid planners.
Prof Cardillo noted that unlike many developed grids designed around coal and gas plants, much of Africa’s infrastructure remained fragmented, particularly in rural areas, presenting an opportunity to design modern systems from the ground up using high-voltage transmission corridors and smart grid technologies.
He said Chinese power companies had constructed more than 66,000 kilometres of transmission and transformation lines across over 40 African countries, expanding technical capacity and access to electricity, and had also financed and built solar parks, wind farms and hydropower plants in countries including South Africa, Kenya and Namibia.
Prof Cardillo stated that investments under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative were increasingly targeting clean energy and transmission infrastructure to address energy poverty and promote sustainable development.
He stressed that building a low-carbon grid required enabling policies and regulatory reforms, citing China’s long-term energy planning system, including clear grid integration goals and access guarantees for renewable producers, as adaptable measures for African policymakers.
Prof Cardillo said that with Africa projected to be the fastest-growing solar market by 2025, supported largely by imports of Chinese solar modules, investment in transmission was essential to ensure reliable power supply and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
He referenced the World Bank’s 500-million-dollar facility to strengthen South Africa’s transmission capacity as evidence of growing multilateral support.
Prof. Cardillo said that other partners, including the World Bank, the African Development Bank and development agencies from Europe and the United States, were supporting grid upgrades and capacity building, and cited the Ethiopia–Kenya ±500 kV DC transmission project as an example of regional cooperation enhancing grid resilience.
He said Africa could leapfrog carbon-intensive pathways through strategic planning, smart transmission design and international cooperation, adding that the continent’s energy transition would depend on effective collaboration among policymakers, investors and partner nations.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey